Description
This second prelude comes from the same treatise, slightly larger than the first at 56 seconds and 231 notes, with more varied layering of ornaments. Couperin is understood to have compiled this collection to convey the technique of "touch" itself, and its writing draws attention not just to fingering but to the very quality and texture of the sound produced.
A keyboard-playing method Couperin published in 1716, combining technical instruction with eight improvisatory preludes.
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.
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