François Couperin (1668 - 1733) was the greatest of the French "Clavicembalistes," and the most influential French composer active in the years following the death of Jean-Baptiste Lully (this occurred in 1687, when Lully became first musician in history to die following an "industrial" injury— he stabbed himself in the foot with his conducting staff, and died of the resulting infection!) and Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 - 1764), whose fame depended principally upon his operatic and theater music.

It is often said that the Couperin dynasty was France's answer to the Bachs. There are surprising parallels in the histories of both great musical families. For example, the Couperin family's successive generations held the post of organist at the Church of St. Gervais, Paris, until 1826; it provided François Couperin's first appointment, having been previously held by his father and an uncle before him. At 25, Couperin followed his teacher Jacques Thomelin, becoming organist to the king, and subsequently harpsichord teacher to several of the royal offspring. Surprisingly little is known of his life beyond a few scant details, though his fame won him a coat of arms shortly after securing his court appointment, and in 1702 he was installed as a Chevalier of the Order of Latran.

Tantalizingly, no relics of Couperin's frequent correspondence with J.S. Bach have survived. Indeed, it is said that many of these priceless letters ended up as jam-pot covers! In 1717, Couperin succeeded d'Angelbert as Royal Harpsichordist, a position he retained until his death. His celebrated treatise L'art de toucher le clavecin remains his most famous didactic work. As a composer, however, Couperin's achievement may be summarized in quite simple terms. He effected, principally in his keyboard works, an unprecedented stylistic fusion, bringing together the graceful lyric qualities of French tradition, and the frisson and vitality of the Italian Baroque. In this, he regarded Arcangelo Corelli, a composer he very much admired, as his chief model.

Couperin's four volumes for harpsichord, known collectively as the Pièces de Clavecin, comprise some 220 brilliantly crafted miniatures. Many have mysterious and evocative titles. The wit and subtly of Couperin's invention has often drawn comparisons between the music and the delicate canvasses of Couperin's contemporary Antoine Watteau. The harpsichord pieces are organized into 27 suites which Couperin titled "Ordres." The majority are derived from the dance forms of the French suite, but within them, one encounters a considerable number which have been given curious or fanciful names, such as "Les Baricades misterieuses" or "L'arlequine." In certain cases, the titles are plainly descriptive though elsewhere the nomenclature can only have had hidden significance for the composer alone, and his true intentions were never divulged.

The unforced expressivity of Couperin's pieces is frequently enhanced by decorous ornamentation. Exceptionally, given the period, the ornamentation is always fully notated, and never left to the taste and discretion of the player. In sum, it may be said that while the formal stylistic precision of Bach's keyboard works is absent from Couperin's, the chief fascination of his Pièces de Clavecin, especially those contained in the first volume, is their highly idiosyncratic content. These astoundingly original pieces, which seem to date from a much later period upon first hearing, traverse a huge expressive vista, from the light and elegant to the somber and subdued, and all are models of their genre.

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