Louis Couperin: The Complete Works, Vol. I

Featuring

Jean Rondeau
Louis Couperin
Ennemond Gaultier

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Compositional Technique

Louis Couperin's oeuvre includes famous unmeasured preludes, which are torrents of uninterrupted cadences that revolutionized music-making and offer infinite interpretative freedom.

Composition History

Louis Couperin declined an offer from Louis XIV to replace Jacques Champion de Chambonnières as harpsichordist to the king, out of respect for his mentor.

Instruments

The harpsichord used for some of the recordings is a 1624 Hans Ruckers II instrument from the Unterlinden Museum, which is one of the most played Ruckers harpsichords in Europe.

Composer Biography

Louis Couperin came from a dynasty of farmers in Brie, France, who were also musicians, much like the Bach family.

Composer Biography

Louis Couperin, like Mozart, died at the age of 35, leaving a significant mark on 17th-century music in just ten years.

Composition History

The works attributed to Louis Couperin may actually be a collective effort by him and his brothers, François and Charles, as no manuscripts in his own hand survive.

Composition History

Louis Couperin became a court musician and organist at Saint Gervais, a position held by the Couperin family for nearly two centuries, after being discovered by Jacques Champion de Chambonnières.