François Couperin (born Paris November 10, 1668 – September 12, 1733 in Paris) was an esteemed French composer in the Baroque style. The Eiffel Tower has become a symbol of Paris throughout the world. ... November 10 is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 51 days remaining. ... Events January - The Triple Alliance of 1668 is formed. ... September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ... Events February 12 - British colonist James Oglethorpe founds Savannah, Georgia. ... Baroque music is Western classical music from the Baroque era, after the Renaissance music era and before the Classical music era proper. ...

He was also known as 'Couperin le Grand' i.e. the Great, to distinguish him from the other talented members of the Couperin family, due to his immense virtuosity on the organ and the harpsichord. The Couperin family was the most prolific in the whole of French musical history. ... A harpsichord is the general term for a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument nowadays called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ...

Couperin was first taught by his father and in 1685 became organist at Saint Gervais, Paris, a post he passed on to his cousin Nicolas Couperin. Other members of the family would hold the same position in later years. In 1717, Couperin became the court organist and composer, and gave weekly "concerts" for King Louis XIV. Many of these "concerts", as the titles read, were in the form of suites for violin, viol, oboe, bassoon, and harpsichord of which he was a virtuoso player. Events February 6 - James Stuart, Duke of York becomes King James II of England and Ireland and King James VII of Scotland. ... This article or section should be merged with Pipe organ The Casavant pipe organ at Notre-Dame de Montréal Basilica, Montreal The organ is a type of keyboard musical instrument, distinctive because the sound is not produced by a percussion action, as on a piano or celesta, or by... Events January 4 — The Netherlands, Britain & France sign Triple Alliance March 2 — Dancer John Weaver performs in the first ballet in Britain shown in Drury Lane The Loves of Mars and Venus March 31 - Bishop Benjamin Hoadly, acting on the advice of King George begins the Bangorian Controversy by saying... Singer-songwriter Dayna Manning performs. ... Louis XIV King of France and Navarre By Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701) Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638–September 1, 1715) reigned as King of France and King of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death. ... In music, a suite is an organized set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed at a single sitting. ... The violin is a stringed musical instrument that has four strings tuned a perfect fifth apart. ... Various Viole da gamba The viol or viola da gamba family of musical instruments is related to the vihuela, rebec, etc. ... Modern Oboe The Oboe is a musical instrument of the woodwind double reed family. ... Bassoon Playing range of a bassoon The bassoon is the tenor member of the woodwind family. ... A harpsichord is the general term for a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument nowadays called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ...

His four volumes of harpsichord music contain over 230 individual pieces, which can be played on solo harpsichord or performed as small chamber works. These greatly influenced J.S. Bach and then much later Richard Strauss, as well as Maurice Ravel who memorialized him with Le Tombeau de Couperin (French for "The Tomb of Couperin"). A harpsichord is the general term for a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument nowadays called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. ... For other people named Bach and other meanings of the word, see Bach (disambiguation). ... Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864 – September 8, 1949) was a German composer of the late Romantic era, particularly noted for his tone poems and operas. ... Joseph-Maurice Ravel (March 7, 1875 – December 28, 1937) was a French composer and pianist, best known for his orchestral work, Boléro, and his famous 1922 orchestral arrangement of Modest Mussorgskys Pictures at an Exhibition. ... Le Tombeau de Couperin is a suite for solo piano by Maurice Ravel, composed between 1914 and 1917. ...

His most famous book, L'Art de toucher le clavecin (published in 1716), contained executions for fingerings, touch, ornamentation and other features of keyboard technique. It is said to have had a great influence on J.S. Bach. Events Natchez, one of the oldest towns on the Mississippi, founded. ... Three-year-old girl playing with a keyboard The musical keyboard, also known as the piano keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers on a musical instrument which produce notes. ... Johann Sebastian Bach, 1748 portrait by Elias Gottlob Haussmann Johann Sebastian Bach (March 21, 1685 (O.S.) – July 28, 1750 (N.S.))[1] was a German composer and organist of the Baroque period, and is universally regarded as one of the greatest composers of all time. ...

Many of Couperin's keyboard pieces have evocative picturesque titles and express a mood through key choices, adventurous harmonies and (resolved) discords. These features attracted Richard Strauss, who orchestrated some of them. Richard Strauss (June 11, 1864 – September 8, 1949) was a German composer of the late Romantic era, particularly noted for his tone poems and operas. ...

Couperin acknowledged his debt to Corelli, whose trio sonata form Couperin introduced to French music. The title of Couperin's grand trio sonata, by which it is best known, is 'The Apotheosis of Corelli' ('l'Apothéose de Corelli'). He tried to mix Italian and French styles in a set of pieces he gave the title les Goûts réunis (the united tastes). Arcangelo Corelli (February 17, 1653 – January 8, 1713) was an Italian violin player and Baroque music composer. ... The trio sonata is a musical form which was particularly popular around the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. ...

Instrumental works

• Harpsichord:
  • First book (1713): Ordres 1 to 5
  • Second book (1717): Ordres 6 to 12
  • Third book (1722): Ordres 13 to 19
  • Fourth book (1728): Ordres 20 to 27
  • A didactic treatise L'Art de toucher le clavecin (1716), which includes 8 preludes and an allemande.

• Organ: two mass settings (1690)
  • Messe pour les paroisses for the parishes
  • Messe pour les couvents for the monasteries

• Trio Sonatas (ca. 1690):
  • La Pucelle
  • La Steinkerque
  • La Visionnaire
  • L'Astrée

• Quatuor sonata (ca. 1695): La Superbe

• Les Nations (1726): these trio pieces consist of a sonata followed by a suite:
  • La Française (débute par la Pucelle)
  • L'Espagnole (débute par la Visionnaire)
  • L'Impériale
  • La Piémontaise (débute par l'Astrée)

• «Apothéoses», trio suites (1724):
  • Le Parnasse ou l'apothéose de Corelli
  • Concert en forme d'apothéose à la mémoire de l'incomparable M. de Lully

• Concert royaux (1714): N° 1 à 4
• Nouveaux Concerts or les Goûts réunis (1724): N° 5 à 14
• Pièces de violes (1728): 2 suites