List ABaroqueE minor96 bpm~3 mindifficulty 7/9
Daquin was organist of the Chapelle Royale at Versailles and one of the leading French clavecinistes of the early eighteenth century — a younger contemporary of Rameau and Couperin. Le coucou ("the cuckoo") is the most-performed movement of his Troisième suite (1735): a charming rondeau in E minor in which a clear cuckoo motif (a falling minor third) is woven through the texture.
Technically the piece tests French Baroque keyboard articulation: light, pearled finger-work; clear ornament placement (the agréments — tremblements, pincés, coulés — are essential, not optional); careful balance between the two hands. The cuckoo motif must be voiced clearly each time it appears, regardless of which hand carries it. The articulation is mostly non-legato with a few sustained moments.
Two pitfalls. First, students play the ornaments as decorations rather than as essential melodic material — French Baroque ornaments are part of the melody, not garnish. Second, the cuckoo motif disappears into the texture when it moves to the left hand; voice it whenever it appears.
Listening: harpsichord recordings of Le coucou are widely available on Musopen and IMSLP audio (Wanda Landowska, Scott Ross). Hearing the piece on the instrument it was written for clarifies the articulation and ornament style for any keyboard player.
Related