Joe Krause Music
François Couperin (1668-1733)
French, Baroque period
Couperin is a composer noted for lively interactions between the soprano and bass lines and for music that depicts real things. Programmatic music, as it is known, has a particular subject, rather than being an abstract member of a genre. While many pieces are simply named after their genre, such as Sonata, Prelude, or Minuet, programmatic pieces will have names like Eagle in Flight, or Nightfall. Couperin even wrote pieces about specific, real people, including himself!
Les Barricades Mystérieuses (The Mysterious Barricades)
La Muse Plantine (The Muse of La Plante)
Le Tic Toc Choc ou Les Maillotins (see below)
There is a wide variety of thought on the meaning of the title. "ou" in the title means "or," so even Couperin himself applied multiple titles to it! It could mean "The Little Hammers," and it could be a collection of onomatopoeia describing the sounds of clockwork. (The piece certainly runs like it!) Les Maillotins may also refer to a specific family of rope-dancers that were well-known at the time.
This piece was originally written for a two-manual harpsichord, meaning there were two keyboards on separate levels. This allowed the hands to play around the same region without interfering with each other. Couperin recommended that for single-manual instruments, the left hand be played an octave lower. However, pianists have discovered that with clever handwork, it's possible to play both parts as written on a single keyboard, as seen in the video!
La Couperin (Here's his piece about himself!)