Les regrets ou l'art de la mélancolie

Featuring

Stefano Lorenzetti
François Couperin

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Historical Context

The rise of the piano at the end of the 18th century and its triumph during the Romantic era caused the music of French harpsichordists like Couperin to be set aside.

Performer Biography

Stefano Lorenzetti, the harpsichordist on this album, is also a musicologist who explores forgotten performance practices and is a significant scholar of Renaissance music.

Composer Biography

At age 25, François Couperin was called by the Sun King (Louis XIV) to fill a prestigious vacant organist position in his private chapel, which solved his financial problems.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Couperin's Pièces de clavecin blend refined counterpoint, a galant taste for embellishments, masterful virtuosity, and a fondness for musical characterization to create unique charm.

Critical Reception

François Couperin's works were largely forgotten for over a century, only being rediscovered and published in a modern edition in 1888 by Johannes Brahms and Friedrich Chrysander.

Composer Biography

François Couperin belonged to one of France's most important musical families, which produced seven generations of organists and composers and became extinct in 1860.

Album & Artwork

This album is structured around eight preludes from Couperin's L'Art de toucher le clavecin, forming eight small suites that explore the theme of melancholy.