Charles Couperin

Charles Couperin (born 9 April 1638 in Chaumes-en-Brie; died between 15 January and 26 February 1679) was a French organist and a member of the Couperin musical family. He was the brother of Louis Couperin and is thought to have been the “younger Couperin” who took part in the Ballet de la Raillerie in 1659, one of the earliest known references to him after his baptism.

On Christmas Day 1661 he received a six-year contract to succeed his deceased brother Louis as organist at the church of Saint-Gervais in Paris. On 20 February 1662 he married Marie Guérin at Saint-Gervais; she was the daughter of a barber associated with the King’s Great Stables. Their only child, François Couperin—later one of France’s greatest composers—was born in 1668. After the first contract expired, the churchwardens renewed Couperin’s appointment for another equal term.

On 15 January 1679, when he served as godfather to a child from his wife’s family, a register described him as “organist of Saint-Gervais and officer to Madame the Duchess of Orléans.” By 26 February 1679 he was already recorded as deceased in a document in which the churchwardens expressed the intention to preserve the organist’s post for his son, and in the meantime appointed Lalande as a temporary substitute.

According to Titon du Tillet, Charles Couperin composed music and was known for a learned manner of organ playing. Nevertheless, if any of his music survives it has not yet been identified; a Magnificat has been attributed to him, but its survival and identification remain uncertain. After his death, his widow continued her son’s education, and in 1687—when François Couperin assumed his father’s duties at Saint-Gervais—she petitioned the court for permission to use capital to alleviate financial hardship caused by the costs of instruction from music, harpsichord, and organ teachers. Although Charles Couperin’s own works are lost or unidentified, his professional stature and his role in passing on the Parisian organ tradition through the training of François Couperin were significant.

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