Concerts Royaux

François Couperin’s three Concerts are part of a cycle of 14 works printed in two series by Boivin et Le Clerc. The first series includes the first four concerts and appeared in 1722 under the title «Concerts Royaux … qui . Conviennent non seulement au Clavecin, maís aussy au Violon, à la Flûte, au Hautbois, à la Viole et au Basson»; the second was published in 1724 and was entitled «Les Goúts Réùnis ou Nouveaux Concerts à l’usage de toutes les sortes d’Instruments de Musique». The three «Concerts» represent three different aspects of Couperin’s musical production: the third is an exemplary homage to the French tradition of dance suites; the ninth is one of the most extraordinary examples of that genre inappropriately referred to as «descriptive»; and the fourteenth is a synthesis of the results obtained by Couperin in his use of certain compositional techniques typical of Italian instrumental music in general and of that of Corelli in particular.