Armand-Louis Couperin

Armand-Louis Couperin (1727-1789) 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 on 25th February 1727. His mother died when he was only seventeen months old and he was brought up by his father, Nicolas, also a composer, and the successor to François "Le Grand" as organist at St Gervais Church in 1748.

Armand-Louis Couperin (1727-1789) 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 on 25th February 1727. His mother died when he was only seventeen months old and he was brought up by his father, Nicolas, also a composer, and the successor to François "Le Grand" as organist at St Gervais Church in 1748. Nothing is known of Couperin's education, though his library at the time of death contained 885 books, unusual for a musician, and evidence of scholarly interest. At the age of twenty-one, 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 on 2nd February 1789 at the age of sixty-one in Paris in a traffic accident while hurrying from Vespers at Ste 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. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License and may also be available under the GNU FDL..