Description
This is the first prelude from François Couperin's performance treatise L'Art de toucher le clavecin (1716). The book gathers practical advice for playing the clavecin, or harpsichord, from fingering and posture to the handling of ornaments, and adds preludes for the learner. The piece shows how an improvisatory introduction was written for the clavecin in its day.
In 2/2, it weaves ornaments and free, arpeggio-like motion into a compact 50 seconds and 164 notes. With so few notes, each one and its ornament follow on with the pacing of speech. It is a piece through which you can feel the breathing of French Baroque keyboard music.
It is rated beginner, and the range sits within exactly three octaves, G1 to G4. It also serves as practice in finding a free, speaking delivery that is not tied too strictly to the beat, but playing freely first requires knowing the skeleton of the beat. Slow the playback to hear which beat each ornament falls on, compare the ornament signs with the sounding notes in the score view, and then gradually bring the pacing closer to your own breathing.
A keyboard-playing method Couperin published in 1716, combining technical instruction with eight improvisatory preludes.
Browse all songs in L'Art de toucher le clavecin →Sheet Music
Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
François Couperin (1668-1733)
Francois Couperin was a leading French Baroque composer from the musical Couperin family, known as "Couperin le Grand." Serving as a court musician to Louis XIV, he composed a wealth of elegant, richly ornamented harpsichord music. His treatise L'Art de toucher le clavecin is also a valuable record of period performance practice. This site features four preludes drawn from that collection.
View all works by Couperin →