Pièces de clavecin. Quatrième livre for Harpsichord. By François Couperin.

Composer / Author: Couperin, François

Title: Pièces de clavecin. Quatrième livre for Harpsichord

Scoring: Harpsichord

Instrumentation in detail: Harpsichord

Date of composition: 1730

Volume / Series: BÄRENREITER URTEXT

Editor: Herlin, Denis

Product format: Performance score, Urtext edition

Publisher: Bärenreiter

Binding: Paperback

Print run: 1st printing 2026

Pages / Format: XXXVI, 100 S. - 31,0 x 24,3 cm

Weight: 547 g

Manufacturer Identification (GPSR): Bärenreiter-Verlag, Karl Vötterle GmbH & Co. KG
Heinrich-Schütz-Allee 35-37, 34131 Kassel, DE
info@baerenreiter.com

Languages of the text: French, English

“French musicologist Denis Herlin, who mastered the harpsichord under the tutelage of keyboard legends such as Kenneth Gilbert and Huguette Dreyfus, once more presents an exemplary edition of a classic from the harpsichord repertoire. ... In the detailed Foreword ... Herlin explains the circumstances of composition, structure, ornamentation and also touches on the question of instruments. The musical notation is of delightful clarity ... The care that Couperin gave to the engraving of his ‘Pièces de clavecin’ is attested by the interspersed facsimiles of the first print, which lend this edition a bibliophile touch.”
(The Jury · German Music Edition Award 2017 · BA10844)

This Urtext edition of the “Quatrième livre” (1730) containing harpsichord pieces divided into eight ordres concludes Bärenreiter’s authoritative new edition of Couperin's “Pièces de clavecin”. For the first time, the editor has meticulously evaluated the many copies of the original print, most of which he unearthed himself in international libraries. All variants are recorded in detail in the Critical Commentary.

Numerous facsimile illustrations and the preservation of the original print’s essential features in a modern engraving offer today’s performers a fascinating insight into the unique sound world of this music. In addition to a detailed Introduction, this comprehensive edition offers notes on historical performance practice, an extensive glossary and Couperin’s “Explication des Agrémens, et des Signes” (each in Fr/Eng).