ABSTRACT
To claim that Couperin is best known as a harpsichord composer is not at all to say that – beyond a handful of pieces – his music for the instrument is widely known. While his complete works for harpsichord have been magnificently recorded, the chances of hearing concert performances of a good cross-section of them are still relatively rare. Moreover, while almost all the harpsichord music of Bach and a fair proportion of Scarlatti’s transfers quite readily to the piano, Couperin’s loses much of its essential character this way; and thus his music has not passed to any extent into the hands of pianists, domestic or professional. In any case, it is highly doubtful whether, had this happened, it would have served the composer well, even though – as has been noted in an earlier chapter – Couperin himself was happy with his music being performed on a variety of instruments. The piano, however, does not readily lend itself to his harpsichord music.
