Photo: Charles-Nicolas Noel · Public domain · credits
Tier 3 · vertical & regional
Armand-Louis Couperin
Person · male · France · Paris · born 1727 · died 1789 · recording since 1990
French composer, organist, and harpsichordist
streamingdatabasedatabasedatabase
Listen on SpotifyYouTube Music
Also known as アルマン＝ルイ・クープラン
Timeline
7 events▣ Album 4◦ Birth 1† Death 1★ Debut release 1
1720s
1780s
1990s
· Debut release
Debut release: Symphonie & Quatuor pour deux clavecins
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
2000s
2020s
Biography
English biography445 words · 4 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1329294983
Biography
Armand-Louis Couperin (25 February 1727 – 2 February 1789) was a French composer, organist, and harpsichordist of the late Baroque and early Classical periods. He was a member of the Couperin family of musicians, of which the most notable were his great-uncle Louis and his cousin François.
Biography
Couperin was born in Paris. His mother died when he was only 17 months old and he was raised by his father, Nicolas, also a composer and the successor to François Couperin "Le Grand" as organist at St. Gervais Church in 1748. Nothing is known of Armand-Louis Couperin's education, though his library at the time of death contained 885 books, unusual for a musician and evidence of scholarly interest.
At age 21, Couperin's father died without leaving a will, making him the sole heir of both his parents. His inheritance included Nicolas's post at St. Gervais. In 1752, Couperin married Elisabeth-Antoinette Blanchet, a professional musician and the daughter of the best harpsichord maker in France, François-Etienne Blanchet. They had four children, three of whom became musicians.
Couperin and his wife taught harpsichord lessons and she was the organist at the abbey of Montmartre. Following his departure from St. Gervais, Couperin's many posts included St. Barthélemy (to 1772), St Jean-en-Grève, the convent of the Carmes-Billettes, Notre Dame (from 1755), the Sainte Chapelle (from 1760), Sainte Marguerite, and the Royal Chapel (from 1770).
Couperin died at age 61 in Paris in a traffic accident while hurrying from Vespers at Sainte Chapelle to St. Gervais.
Music
References to Couperin by his contemporaries, including Charles Burney, laud his improvisational virtuosity (often on the Te Deum hymn) and established his reputation as one of the two best organists of the era. Nevertheless, only one piece for organ exists today.
Couperin did not publish his church music and he refused to write for the theatre. His surviving works are almost exclusively for the keyboard, or keyboard and small chamber ensemble.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Couperin remained attached stylistically to la grande tradition française, and his pieces have been criticized for their lack of modernity. However, David Fuller cites his experimental impulse and urge to explore the possibilities of instruments. An example is his Simphonie de clavecins, the only work in existence that requires two harpsichords with genouillères (knee-levers that allowed diminuendos).
Pièces de Clavecin (1751)
La Victoire
Allemande
Courante, La de Croissy
Les Cacqueteuses
La Grégoire
L'Intrépide
Premier menuet, deuxième menuet
L'Arlequine ou la Adam, rondeau
La Blanchet
La de Boisgelou
La Foucquet
La Sémillante ou la Joly
La Turpin
Première gavotte, seconde gavotte
Premier menuet, second menuet
La du Breüil
La Chéron
L'Affligée
L'Enjouée
Les tendres Sentiments
Rondeau
Les quatre nations
L'Italienne
L'Angloise, rondeau
L'Allemande
La Françoise
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 13 | 67.6th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 4 | 78.1th |
| Studio albums | 4 | 82.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 7 | 82.6th |
| Recording span (years) | -201 | 3.3th |
| Genres | 0 | 0th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (4 release groups · 4 studio albums)
Albums · 4
Symphonie & Quatuor pour deux clavecins
1990 · studio album
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Tracklist · 8 tracks · 43:23
1Symphonie de clavecins: I. Allegro moderato et marqué6:132Symphonie de clavecins: II. Andante4:523Symphonie de clavecins: III. Presto4:514La Françoise (extrait de « Les Quatre Nations »)6:195Deuxième quatuor a deux clavecins: I. Moderato5:446Deuxième quatuor a deux clavecins: II. Andantino5:017Deuxième quatuor a deux clavecins: III. Presto - Allegro assai4:238L'Italienne (extrait de « Les Quatre Nations »)6:002005 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 21 tracks · 1:19:39
1La Victoire6:042Allemande7:393Courante La de Croissy3:164Les Cacqueteuses2:165La Grégoire4:326L'Intrépide. Rondeau2:207Menuet I & II4:048L'Arlequine ou La Adam. Rondeau2:209La Blanchet4:0410La de Boisgelou4:1611La Foucquet2:5812La Semillante ou La Joly3:5113La Turpin4:0314Gavotte I & II3:3515Menuet I & II2:0916La du Breüil3:2117La Chéron4:0018L'Affligée5:5519L'Enjouéé2:5720Les Tendres Sentiments3:1621Rondeau gracieux2:432020 · studio album
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Tracklist · 25 tracks · 1:40:45
1Pièces de clavecin en Sol: I. La Victoire6:102Pièces de clavecin en Sol: II. Allemande7:263Pièces de clavecin en Sol: III. Courante. La de Croissy4:534Pièces de clavecin en Sol: IV. Les Cacqueteuses2:495Pièces de clavecin en Sol: V. La Grégoire4:316Pièces de clavecin en Sol: VI. L'Intrépide2:087Pièces de clavecin en Sol: VII. Menuets3:118Pièces de clavecin en Sol: VIII. L'Arlequine ou la Adam2:339Pièces de clavecin en Sol: IX. La Blanchet3:2010Pièces de clavecin en Sol: X. La de Boisgelou4:1711Pièces de clavecin en Sol: XI. La Foucquet2:4412Pièces de clavecin en Sol: XII. La Sémillante ou la Joly5:3813Pièces de clavecin en Si Bémol: I. La Turpin5:1914Pièces de clavecin en Si Bémol: II. Gavottes4:1715Pièces de clavecin en Si Bémol: III. Menuets2:0116Pièces de clavecin en Si Bémol: IV. La du Breüil3:3317Pièces de clavecin en Si Bémol: V. La Chéron3:0518Pièces de clavecin en Si Bémol: VI. L'Affligée9:0919Pièces de clavecin en Si Bémol: VII. . L'Enjouée2:5620Pièces de clavecin en Si Bémol: VIII. Les Tendres Sentimens3:3321Pièces de clavecin en Si Bémol: IX. Rondeau gracieux2:3822Pièces de clavecin en Si Bémol, Les Quatre Nations: I. L'Italienne4:2123Pièces de clavecin en Si Bémol, Les Quatre Nations: II. L'Angloise2:2024Pièces de clavecin en Si Bémol, Les Quatre Nations: III. L'Allemande3:4625Pièces de clavecin en Si Bémol, Les Quatre Nations: IV. La Françoise4:07Complete Solo Harpsichord Music
2021 · studio album
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Tracklist · 26 tracks · 1:53:30
1Pièces de clavecin in G major: La Victoire6:072Pièces de clavecin in G major: Allemande10:463Pièces de clavecin in G major: Courante. La de Croissy4:344Pièces de clavecin in G major: Les Cacqueteuses2:365Pièces de clavecin in G major: La Grégoire4:406Pièces de clavecin in G major: L’intrépide1:587Pièces de clavecin in G major: Menuets in G major I & II3:058Pièces de clavecin in G major: L’arlequine ou La Adam2:249Pièces de clavecin in G major: La Blanchet3:4610Pièces de clavecin in G major: La de Boisgelou4:2411Pièces de clavecin in G major: La Foucquet2:3912Pièces de clavecin in G major: La Semillante ou La Joly5:3813Pièces de clavecin in B-flat major: La Turpin5:3914Pièces de clavecin in B-flat major: Gavottes I & II3:4215Pièces de clavecin in B-flat major: Menuets in B major I & II1:5816Pièces de clavecin in B-flat major: La du Breüil5:0817Pièces de clavecin in B-flat major: La Chéron5:0618Pièces de clavecin in B-flat major: L’affligée11:1019Pièces de clavecin in B-flat major: L’enjouée4:1120Pièces de clavecin in B-flat major: Les Tendres Sentiments4:2621Pièces de clavecin in B-flat major: Rondeau. Gracieux2:4122Les Quatre Nations: L’Italienne4:3023Les Quatre Nations: L’Angloise2:0424Les Quatre Nations: L’Allemande3:3425Les Quatre Nations: La Françoise4:4226La Chasse2:02
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Armand-Louis Couperin head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 13 | 67.6th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 4 | 78.1th |
| Studio albums | 4 | 82.8th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 7 | 82.6th |
| Recording span (years) | -201 | 3.3th |
| Genres | 0 | 0th |
Awards & honours
Where this record comes from
portrait—Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Armand_Louis_Couperin.jpgaliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/6d182565-69cb-4e5e-bc22-798c52b1c570discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/6d182565-69cb-4e5e-bc22-798c52b1c570core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q582947seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand-Louis_Couperinbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand-Louis_Couperin
Why this artist is in the database
- List of composers by name
Tier rule: curated genre/region list
Image: Charles-Nicolas Noel · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata: Q582947 · MusicBrainz: 6d182565-69cb-4e5e-bc22-798c52b1c570
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