Francois Couperin (jan 1, 1668 – jan 1, 1733)

Description:

royal organist and chief musician to Louis XIV.

The agrements characteristic of French opera were not limited to the stage but are also found in purely instrumental pieces that could sometimes take on a dramatic personalized nature. This is seen in the keyboard works by Couperin.

Couperin provided many agrements, ornaments that were usually learned orally and deployed improvisationally. Couperin fought against both tendencies and published tables of ornaments in his first book of hrapsichord pieces in 1713 and three years later published a treatise Lárt de toucher le clavecin that indicated precisely ohw to execute the embellishments.

Miniatures that display this kind of exquisitely embellished, decorative veneer Couperin knew so well how to apply are often called rococo, a word that derived from folding together the French rocaille and coquille, the rock work and shell work featured in expensively textured architectural surfaces of the period. Rococo art expressed aristocratic sentiments, including the sort of amorous or melancholy ones that can be aired in polite society and identified as galant.

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