The Omniscient Mussel

Quiz #22: Behind The Curtain

Ok folks, midnight has passed and it’s now time to reveal the mystery information.

This week’s piece is Les Barricades Misterieuses by François Couperin (1668-1733), written in 1716-17 as part of his second book of pieces for harpsichord. Couperin was born into a family of organists and was appointed to a position at the court of Louis XIV in 1693. The post was a jobshare with three other organists, which meant he only had to work the first three months of the year.

The rest of the time he devoted to composing and teaching, an effort that resulted in him being the regarded as one of the best in France in both disciplines. His peers thought enough of Couperin to make him the dedicatee of many of their compositions.

The bonus point for this week’s quiz was for the artist. Murray Perahia and Grigory Solokov were put forward but alas the correct answer is Alexandre Tharaud from his 2007 album Tic Toc Choc. If you don’t have it in your collection, you should otherwise your CD cabinet will live out its days as an unfulfilled being and that’s just a bit sad.

The new quiz format means points are calculated over the entire 10 week period to determine the winners. It’s not a competition as such, more like all the fun of music school with some really great prizes instead of hours of practice or exams.

For those of you that are into such things, have a look at the leaderboard.

Otherwise, see yous all Monday for the second installment!

On this day..

• Getting To Know You - 2007