Armand-Louis Couperin (25 February 1727 –2 February 1789) was a French composer, organist, and harpsichordist of the late Baroque and early Classical periods. He was a member of the Couperin family of musicians, of which the most notable were his great-uncle Louis and his cousin François.
Couperin was born in Paris. His mother died when he was only 17 months old and he was raised by his father, Nicolas, also a composer and the successor to François Couperin "Le Grand" as organist at St. Gervais Church in 1748. Nothing is known of Armand-Louis Couperin's education, though his library at the time of death contained 885 books, unusual for a musician and evidence of scholarly interest.
At age 21, Couperin's father died without leaving a will, making him the sole heir of both his parents. His inheritance included Nicolas's post at St. Gervais. In 1752, Couperin married Elisabeth-Antoinette Blanchet, a professional musician and the daughter of the best harpsichord maker in France, François-Etienne Blanchet. They had four children, three of whom became musicians.
Couperin and his wife taught harpsichord lessons and she was the organist at the abbey of Montmartre. Following his departure from St. Gervais, Couperin's many posts included St. Barthélemy (to 1772), St Jean-en-Grève, the convent of the Carmes-Billettes, Notre Dame (from 1755), the Sainte Chapelle (from 1760), Sainte Marguerite, and the Royal Chapel (from 1770).
Couperin died at age 61 in Paris in a traffic accident while hurrying from Vespers at Sainte Chapelle to St. Gervais.
References to Couperin by his contemporaries, including Charles Burney, laud his improvisational virtuosity (often on the Te Deum hymn) and established his reputation as one of the two best organists of the era. Nevertheless, only one piece for organ exists today.
Couperin did not publish his church music and he refused to write for the theatre. His surviving works are almost exclusively for the keyboard, or keyboard and small chamber ensemble.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Couperin remained attached stylistically to la grande tradition française, and his pieces have been criticized for their lack of modernity. However, David Fuller cites his experimental impulse and urge to explore the possibilities of instruments. An example is his Simphonie de clavecins, the only work in existence that requires two harpsichords with genouillères (knee-levers that allowed diminuendos).
Jean-Philippe Rameau was a French composer and music theorist. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer of his time for the harpsichord, alongside François Couperin.
François Couperin was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was known as Couperin le Grand to distinguish him from other members of the musically talented Couperin family.
The Couperin family was a musical dynasty of professional composers and performers. They were the most prolific family in French musical history, active during the Baroque era. Louis Couperin and his nephew, François Couperin le grand, are the best known members of the family.
Louis Couperin was a French Baroque composer and performer. He was born in Chaumes-en-Brie and moved to Paris in 1650–1651 with the help of Jacques Champion de Chambonnières. Couperin worked as organist of the Church of St. Gervais in Paris and as musician at the court. He quickly became one of the most prominent Parisian musicians, establishing himself as a harpsichordist, organist, and violist, but his career was cut short by his early death at the age of thirty-five.
Michel Corrette was a French composer, organist and author of musical method books.
Jean-Henri d'Anglebert was a French composer, harpsichordist and organist. He was one of the foremost keyboard composers of his day.
Jean-François Dandrieu, also spelled D'Andrieu was a French Baroque composer, harpsichordist and organist.
Élisabeth Claude Jacquet de La Guerre was a French musician, harpsichordist and composer.
Claude Balbastre was a French composer, organist, harpsichordist and fortepianist. He was one of the most famous musicians of his time.
Pierre Février was a French baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist.
Philippe-François Véras,, was a French composer, organist and harpsichordist active in Lille about 1740.
Louis-Antoine Dornel was a French composer, harpsichordist, organist and violinist.
Christophe Rousset is a French harpsichordist and conductor, who specializes in the performance of Baroque music on period instruments. He is also a musicologist, particularly of opera and European music of the 17th and 18th centuries and is the founder of the French music ensemble Les Talens Lyriques.
The French Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau wrote three books of Pièces de clavecin for the harpsichord. The first, Premier Livre de Pièces de Clavecin, was published in 1706; the second, Pièces de Clavessin, in 1724; and the third, Nouvelles Suites de Pièces de Clavecin, in 1726 or 1727. They were followed in 1741 by Pièces de clavecin en concerts, in which the harpsichord can either be accompanied by violin and viola da gamba or played alone. An isolated piece, "La Dauphine", survives from 1747.
Premiere Livre de Pièces de Clavecin is a book of harpsichord music written by Bernard de Bury at the French royal court of Versailles, published in 1736.
The chapelle royale was the musical establishment attached to the royal chapel of the French kings. The term may also be applied to the chapel buildings, the Chapelle royale de Versailles.
Blandine Verlet was a French harpsichordist and a harpsichord teacher, who is known internationally for her recordings of works by François Couperin.
Pierre-Louis Couperin was a French organist and composer, a member of the famous Couperin dynasty of composer-organists.
Gervais-François Couperin was a representative of the famous Couperin family of composers and organists.
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