This set of suites composed for the French court of Louis XIV between 1714 and 1715, (hence the qualifier "royal"), at the time chamber music concerts were in vogue. They are intended for listening more than dancing. They were published by François Couperin in 1722 without indication of instrumentation. The same piece can therefore be played by a solo harpsichord; or by an ensemble with a bass instrument, a violin, a viol, and an oboe or a flute. The freedom left for instrumentation is also found in certain works of Marin Marais and Gaspard Le Roux. This collection was supplemented in 1724 by a set of "Nouveaux Concerts" with the subtitle les Goûts réunis, or the "reunited tastes" of French and Italian styles.
Each concert is composed of a prelude and a succession of dances in the traditional order (allemande, sarabande or courante, followed by other dances.)
- Premier concert
- Prélude
- Allemande
- Sarabande
- Gavotte
- Gigue
- Menuet en trio
- Deuxième concert
- Prélude
- Allemande fuguée
- Air tendre
- Air contrefugué
- Echos
- Troisième concert
- Prélude
- Allemande
- Courante
- Sarabande grave
- Gavotte
- Muzette
- Chaconne légère
- Quatrième concert
- Prélude
- Allemande
- Courante françoise
- Courante à l'italiéne
- Sarabande
- Rigaudon
- Forlane
Famous quotes containing the word concerts:
“If you love music, hear it; go to operas, concerts and pay fiddlers to play to you; but I insist on your neither piping nor fiddling yourself. It puts a gentleman in a very frivolous, contemptible light.... Few things would mortify me more than to see you bearing a part in a concert, with a fiddle under your chin, or a pipe in your mouth.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)