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| Couperin, Francois |  |
Compositore
| Couperin, Francois (1668 - 1733) |
Immagine
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Life
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François Couperin, noto come "il grande" per distinguerlo dallo zio, pure eminente musicista, rappresenta il vertice più alto all’interno di una grande famiglia di musicisti.
A 18 anni era già organista alla Chiesa di St. Gervais; ebbe in seguito alti incarichi – e la relativa protezione – di Luigi XIV, e nel 1693, divenne Organista regale e clavicembalista di Corte.
Fu uno dei musicisti più acclamati e noti di tutto il secolo, sia come clavicembalista che compositore.
Morì a Parigi nel 1733.
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Works
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Couperin composed church music for the royal chapel under Louis XIV. The surviving Leçons de ténèbres are possibly the best example of this form of composition, the first of the three for soprano solo and continuo and the third for two sopranos, settings of the Lamentations of Jeremiah for the Holy Week liturgy. Couperin's chamber music includes L'apothéose de Lully, a tribute Jean-Baptiste Lully the leading composer in France in the second half of the 17th century; L’apothéose de Corelli, a tribute to the Italian composer Corelli, part of a larger collection of ensemble pieces under the title Les goûts réunis (Tastes United), an exploration of the rival French and Italian tastes in music, a quarrel in which Couperin remained neutral. The Concerts royaux represent another important element in Couperin's music for instrumental ensemble. Couperin is best known for his 27 richly varied harpsichord suites or "odres", most of which were published between 1713 and 1730, and his famous text-book "L’art de toucher le clavecin" (The Art of Playing the Harpsichord). |