Les Barricades mystérieuses

1. 0:00
   Four voices in the bass clef

   Couperin writes four voices in a low register, with both staves in the bass clef. Their notes overlap, as ties carry one voice into the next chord while another begins a new figure. The marking is Vivement, lively.

2. 0:30
   Wigmore Hall recital, 1927

   At Wigmore Hall on 11 May 1927, Meyer played Les Barricades mystérieuses on a programme that also included Ravel’s Jeux d’eau and Stravinsky’s Piano-⁠Rag-⁠Music. She kept Couperin in her repertoire for decades. This recording comes from her Paris sessions of 1953–⁠54.

3. 0:52
   Third couplet

   The third couplet, bars 31–⁠53, is longer than either of the first two. The bass keeps moving beneath the overlapping voices, and extra flats appear in the chords. At its end Couperin writes Rondeau again, and the opening refrain returns.

Joins

1. 0:18
   First couplet over a B♭ bass

   The first couplet (bars 11–⁠22) follows the repeated refrain and begins over B♭ in the bass. The upper voices reach higher notes. Couperin keeps the staggered entries and ties of the refrain, and the two-beat motion continues. Meyer’s two hands still carry all four voices. The marking remains Vivement.

2. 0:52
   The bass descends from B♭

   The third couplet (bars 31–⁠52) follows the B♭ major refrain with no break in its chain of tied notes. The bass descends, and the upper voices go on entering between the beats. More flats appear as the passage continues. Couperin keeps the marking Vivement and the two-beat metre, and this final episode runs to more bars than the earlier couplets.

3. 1:16
   The refrain and its final chord

   The bass reaches F, and the written Rondeau then sends the pianist back to the B♭ major refrain. The refrain’s interlocking notes return unchanged. In the final ending, marked Fin, a single held B♭ major chord takes the place of their overlapping movement.