Louis Couperin, the uncle of Francois Couperin, died seven years before
Francois was born.  Louis does not possess the recognition that his nephew
has been afforded, but his music for harpsichord need not take a back seat.
It is the epitome of French baroque music, and Blandine Verlet captures its
essence excellently on an Astree recording (#8733).  Actually, Verlet made
five cd's of Couperin's harpsichord music; I only have the one noted.

This is very peaceful music, great for reflection or putting yourself
emotionally into Couperin's world.  Verlet plays the Clavecin Hans Ruckers
II, 1624 which has a perfect tone for the music.  Composer, performer, and
instrument thoroughly send me back to the days of the French Court, and
it's a highly rewarding journey.

I think it likely that lovers of French baroque harpsichord music would
find the Verlet recording irresistible.  It was released initially in
1992 and might be hard to locate but well worth the effort.

Don Satz
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