QUELQUES MANUSCRITS RÉPANDUS DANS LE MONDE »: "LA CONVALESCENTE", SONATE EN TRIO DE FRANÇOIS COUPERIN

In 2005, a manuscript with the title of "La Convalescente. Sonnade. Del S. Couprin" was discovered in the Sächsische Landes-und Universitätsbibliothek in Dresden. This source contains the six movements of Couperin's trio sonata L'Impériale published as part of the cycle Les Nations in 1726. The copyist, who was none other than the violinist Johann Georg Pisendel, brought the manuscript back to Saxony from his trip to Paris in 1714. That we now have an exact date for Couperin's trio sonata allows us to reappraise the stylistic evolution of the composer in the years around 1714. Furthermore, the manuscript's association with Pisendel's journey explains why Couperin chose the title L'Impériale for the revised version. Finally, comparison of the manuscript with J. S. Bach's transcription for organ of one of its movements (BWV 587) confirms that the Cantor of Leipzig was working from the copy made by his colleague Pisendel.