L'art de toucher le clavecin
L'art de toucher le clavecin ( The Art of Playing the Harpsichord ) is a music pedagogical treatise by the French composer François Couperin . It first appeared in 1716 and was reissued in 1717.
Content and story
After François' father Charles Couperin died in 1679, Michel-Richard Delalande initially took over his deputy as organist at the Church of St-Gervais-St-Protais in Paris . The church superiors provided the eleven-year-old François with funds for musical training, but he was unable to obtain general school education during this time. This also has an impact on L'art de toucher le clavecin , which is characterized by slang idioms and quite a mess in the presentation.
An autograph of the treatise has not survived, but there are copies of the two printed editions published during Couperin's lifetime. The first edition from 1716 includes eight preludes and a two-part, specially composed allemande, as well as information on ornamentation , irregular rhythm and fingerings in Couperin's Pièces de Clavecin , which are of significant musical historical interest in the course of the early music movement . The new improved edition from 1717 contains an invitation to the owners of the first edition to exchange their copies for new ones in order not to be damaged.
Together with Nicolas Siret 's second volume of harpsichord pieces , published in 1719, L'art de toucher le clavecin is one of the latest works to contain preludes non mesurés , although bar lines are always given for educational purposes .
Beginning of Prelude No. 8 :
Quotes
“This instrument has its own peculiarities, like the violin. If the harpsichord cannot let its notes swell, if the rapid repetition of the same note is not particularly suitable for it, then it has other advantages: accuracy, clarity, gloss and the (larger) range. "
“Above all, you have to develop a feeling for the keys and always have a well- equipped instrument. I understand, however, that there are people who can be indifferent because they play equally badly on any instrument. "
Expenses (selection)
- Edited and translated into German by Anna Linde. English translation by Mevanwy Roberts. Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden 1933/1961. Breitkopf Edition No. 5560
Recordings (selection)
Web links
- L'Art de toucher le clavecin : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project