Couperin, F: Les Nations

Contents Couperin, F: Les Nations: Premier Ordre ‘La Françoise’ Couperin, F: Les Nations: Second Ordre ‘L’Espagnole’ Couperin, F: Les Nations, Troisième ordre ‘L’Impériale’ Couperin, F: Les nations, Quatrième ordre ‘La piémontoise’

Although François Couperin (1668-1733) is best known today as a composer of harpsichord music, he remained deeply involved in chamber music throughout his career. Les Nations is a vast project in which the virtues of both the French and Italian styles are set next to each other. Each of the four ordres celebrates a Catholic power of Europe – France, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the Savoy dynasty of Piedmont – and each is a combination of an Italianate trio sonata with its free-form virtuosity and a large-scale and elaborate French dance suite. Led by the Julliard School’s Historical Performance Program artistic director and violinist Monica Huggett, the period-instrument specialist Juilliard Baroque ensemble, featuring nine of the world’s most respected and accomplished early music instrumentalists, is a faculty grouping committed to lively, passionate performances of 17th – 18th c. music.