French Baroque: Louis Couperin

Likely born in 1626 in Chaumes-en-Brie, Louis Couperin, son of a small landowner, serves up French baroque among several major musicians bearing the Couperin name of which first record dates to 1356. The first musical Couperin is thought be one Mathurin Couperin, an amateur who was a trader by profession. His son, Charles, was the father of Louis. Louis' younger brothers were Charles and François. See 'The Other M Couperin' by Glen Wilson as to Louis' brother, Charles (1639-79). As for Francois (1631-1701), though reportedly popular and talented at harpsichord alike Louis, he remains an obscure figure not to be confused with Louis' later nephew, François Couperin le Grand (1668-1733), son of his brother, Charles. Like many early composers, no known images of Louis exist which aren't likely misattributed. See the Couperin dynasty.

Literature about Couperin is less than vast, despite the high esteem of his peers at the time as an especially talented craftsman, both as a composer and performer. Albeit Couperin played viol as well, the majority of his compositions were for harpsichord and organ. He didn't publish any, however, during his lifetime. The first that Louis saw print was in a 23-volume anthology by Aristide and Louise Farrenc called 'Le Trisor das pianistes' of 1861-72 which included 20 works for harpsichord [Ferguson].

A couple hundred of Couperin's compositions exist in the posthumous Bauyn manuscript of 1690 and the Guy Oldham manuscript discovered in 1957. The works in the Oldham were written slightly earlier than those in the Bauyn. Most of the Oldham compositions are works for organ from 1656 but range from the early to latter fifties. They are numbers 1 to 85 per the 2003 'Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre' (EOL) in Monaco. Numbering does not reflect chronology, though Couperin supplied dates to 35 of the Oldham manuscripts, thirty of which are fantasy-fugues, so-called because he began to label fantasies as fugues without altering anything.

The Bauyn contains works by various composers including his mentor, Chambonnières (below), and were composed around 1658 or so. About two thirds of Couperin's works for harpsichord are from the Bauyn with a numbering scheme from 1 to 133 published in the 1985 'Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre' in Monaco. This not chronological, but thematic according to keys with dances for subsets. Altogether, numbering in Couperin is two-fold depending on whether it refers to the Oldham or the Bauyn. The original 'Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre' was first published in Paris in 12 volumes in 1933 by Louise Dyer with intent to document Couperin's complete works, quite some time before knowledge of the Oldham manuscripts.

Among first records of Louis he is discovered to be a cleric in Chaumes by 1641. He was probably composing by some time in the forties and skilled at harpsichord, as his career in music is said to have sparked in 1650 when he and his two younger brothers performed compositions by Louis for composer and harpsichordist, Jacques Champion de Chambonnières, at the latter's home in Le Plessis-Feu-Aussoux near Paris ['Le Parnasse François' Titon du Tillet Evrard]. Chambonnières was impressed, upon which Couperin traded Chaumes-en-Brie for Paris 30 miles of so northeast to begin studies under Chambonnières. [Thematic directory of Chambonnières by Bruce Gustafson].

In 1653 Couperin became an organist at the Church of St. Gervais in Paris where he remained the whole of his career. During that time he also worked for Marquis Abel Servien in Meudon from 1656 to 1658. Half of his dated compositions in the Oldham spread from the early to latter fifties are from 1656 in Meudon. His works in the Bauyn followed circa 1658-61. Stacking below begins with the 2003 'Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre' containing Couperin's earlier works in the Oldham. That is followed by the 1985 'Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre' with thematic, not chronological, catalogue numbers assigned to pieces from the Bauyn. Numbers beginning with No.15 generally reflect changes in key as they proceed from lower to higher. Nos.15-29, for example, are a string of dance forms in C major. Advancing through tones, higher numbers 115-117 toward the end are dances in B minor. Couperin wrote no "suites" as such, at least not as commonly arranged in sets ordered by types of dance. Suites are arranged by performers for themselves from among the various dances in various keys which Couperin addressed. The main body of these among others like gigues and chaconnes were allemandes, courantes, and sarabandes. A broad variety of forms are represented below.

Oldham Manuscript 'Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre' 2003

'Fugue'   No.61   Louis Couperin

Signed in Paris by Couperin on 22 July 1656

Organ: Warren Steel

Bauyn Manuscript 'Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre' 1985

'Prelude in G minor'   No. 5   Louis Couperin   C 1658-61

Harpsichord: John Moraitis

'Prelude a l'imitation de Mr. Froberger'   Prelude in A minor   No. 6   Louis Couperin   C 1658-61

From Froberger's 'Toccata' No.1 in A minor' of 1649

Harpsichord: Peter Kramer

Assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that the suite arranged by Monika Forys below begins with a prelude, that would be No.12 or 13. Her set of dances unlisted are selected from among works in F major Nos.66-81 (Bauyn EOL 1985).

'Suite in F major'   Louis Couperin   C 1658-61

Harpsichord: Monika Forys

'Passacaille in C major'   No.27   Louis Couperin   C 1658-61

Harpsichord: Richard Egarr

'Menuet in C major'   No.29   Louis Couperin   C 1658-61

Harpsichord: Ernst Stolz

'Chaconne in F major'   No.80   Louis Couperin   C 1658-61

Harpsichord: Colin Booth

'Tombeau de Mr. de Blancrocher'   Tombeau F major   No.81   Louis Couperin   C 1658-61

Harpsichord: Gustav Leonhardt   Album: 'Suiten und Pavane' 1980

'Sarabande in A minor'   From Nos.107-110   Louis Couperin   C 1658-61

Harpsichord: Alberto Bagnai

Couperin's younger brothers, Charles and François, were also living at St. Gervais when Louis there died on 29 August 1661 at only about thirty-five years of age, causes unknown.