Preludes non mesures
An Attempted Reconstruction of the Lost Autographs
by Louis Couperin
Harpsichord - Sheet Music

Harpsichord

SKU: BR.EB-8705

An Attempted Reconstruction of the Lost Autographs. Composed by Charles Couperin and Louis Couperin. Edited by Glenn Wilson. Solo instruments; stapled. Edition Breitkopf. Awarded the German Music Edition Prize 2004. Renaissance/early Baroque. Score. 48 pages. Breitkopf and Haertel #EB 8705. Published by Breitkopf and Haertel (BR.EB-8705).

ISBN 9790004181430. 9 x 12 inches.

The Preludes non mesures formerly attributed to Louis Couperin, and now attributed by the present editor in large part to his brother Charles, the father of Francois "le Grand", are some of the finest keyboard works of the 17th century. The major problem confronting an editor here is the fact that the autographs have been lost. Copyists of the Couperins' day and the editors who based themselves on their copies were unable to reproduce these pieces in a musically consistent and satisfying way. The metrically free, non mesure notation and the imprecise length of the held notes (" tenues" ) present problems that are difficult to solve. They call for the style-critical competence of a Glen Wilson, who elucidates his decisions in a preface and confirms his own experience as an interpreter of these works in the music files we present for free download, which offer one of an infinite number of possible interpretations of the Preludes .

Awarded the German Music Edition Prize 2004.