The brilliant harpsichord music of Francois Couperin graced the court of Louis XIV and Louis XV at a time when France set the trend for all of Europe. This recording includes three suites of character pieces which evoke the splendour of a glittering past.

15 MP3 Songs in this album (54:13) !
Related styles: CLASSICAL: Baroque, CLASSICAL: Keyboard Music



Details:
By the time the reign of the Sun King decadently attained its perfumed end, a flourishing school of uniquely French harpsichord music reached its zenith in the works of Francois Couperin. Couperin's material was a synthesis of the French classical tradition, blended with the earthy sound of Breton and Norman folk music. Played on a copy of a double manual harpsichord by Pascal Taskin, the music bristles with ornamentation which flatters the sound of the instrument.




Susan Adams was born in Ottawa into a family that encouraged music study. She began playing at the age of four, and started taking lessons when she was six years old. Susan studied the piano privately in Ottawa with Jaromey Anderson and under Boris Roubakine at the University of Calgary, both of whom were dedicated and generous teachers.

Later she studied early keyboard instruments and related subjects with many fine musicians at the Schola Cantorum in Basel Switzerland. She majored in harpsichord with Jean-Claude Zehnder, with whom she also studied continuo and organ, and she took fortepiano lessons with Klaus Linder. Improvisation and choral singing rounded out the program. Susan especially enjoyed playing the well-maintained collection of instruments at the Schola. Travels to Holland enabled her to have coaching from Gustav Leonhardt. Returning to Canada Susan continued performing the works of Bach, Couperin, Rameau and Scarlatti on an ever-widening variety of harpsichords, and the music of Haydn, Mozart and J.C. Bach on the fortepiano and antiques.