Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Couperin - Les Barricades Mysterieuses for a Beginner

Hello, beginner pianist here. I'm currently working through Bach's Notebook for Anna Magdalena and I'm enjoying it a lot! Also working through Alfred's All-In-One Course 1.

I've been listening to Les Barricades Mysterieuses by Couperin non-stop for the past 2 months - Cziffra's version to be specific, and I was wondering if I should give it a try or if it's too early for a piece like that.
I was thinking it may be a good opportunity to practice trills.

I don't have enough experience to judge the difficulty of a lot of pieces yet, neither do I have a teacher (for now) to ask for advice!

Thank you!

FWIW (I don't teach, and haven't played it):

The sheet music is in the "public domain" -- there are free PDF's available.

. . . Download it, print it out, and see if you can play it.

I took a quick look, and while it sounds not-too-hard, a lot of the score is in four contrapuntal parts. I suspect it's not easy to play, and a bitch to play well.

One suggestion:

. . . DO NOT RUSH THE TEMPO WHEN YOU TRY IT.

Cziffra is a master. You may _never_ be able to play it that fast, or that smoothly.

You'll find some talk about "stretch pieces" in this Forum. Consider it a "stretch piece".

Bach's Notebook is generally rated grades 1-3 (see link for specific pieces)
http://www.henleusa.com/us/detail/index.html?Title=Notebook+for+Anna+Magdalena+Bach_1349

While Couperin is rated somewhere around grade 8.

Therefore, the difference is more than just what is considered a 'stretch piece', which is defined as slightly above the level you can play.

You can download a free copy at imslp.org

Edited to add: You might look at this free version which may be more manageable at the present
http://www.free-scores.com/download-sheet-music.php?pdf=8113

I love the Couperin, but it is pretty tough. I would say it's late intermediate, whereas AMB notebook pieces are early intermediate. I've generally taught this piece after a student has played several larger sonatinas and several Bach Little Preludes.

If you're currently working through the AMB notebook, then I probably would hold off a bit on the Couperin. As dogperson says, it's a bit more than just a stretch piece. But that is good to have those carrots dangling in front of us to spur us onward. There is plenty of great music to learn along the way

This is how I played it after 3 years. I agree with the above. Just try playing the first few bars without pedal and you will know the difficulties.

https://recitals.pianoworld.com/reci...20-%20Les%20Baricades%20Misterieuses.mp3

Great suggestions, many thanks guys. I will give the easy version that dogperson suggested a try, to get a taste, and I will wait until I become better to fully commit to it. I liked the idea of the carrot - great for keeping motivated!

@wouter79 - Great performance!!! I especially love your trills!

Thanks and have fun

It's a gorgeous piece but I'd really recommend holding back until ready to play the original, which is written in the bass clef for both hands. Then you can really savour that lovely warm sound and the changing harmonies.
It's marked "Vivement" but I think it's lovely played slowly and expressively. If you try out just the Rondeau section you'll find you have do do a lot of changing fingers on single notes in order to connect the melodies. This is the real technique for this piece, not the trills, which are relatively unimportant I feel. You can then do the whole piece with little or no pedal if you master this technique.
(But I do feel it would be very hard for a relative beginner :))

I know that this is an old thread but since I referred to it, it's probable that someone else will...

I'm Grade 4, prepping for 5 and learned the Rondeau in a couple of hours. It took a while longer to get the fluency and speed, but only a couple of days. I don't have a Baroque super-brain.

I'm happy with it, whether it survives the scrutiny of my piano teacher is another matter.

A lot of the harpsichordists vary the tempo enormously - creating tempi which sound like they're being dictated by the bellows of an accordion. I don't think it's necessary on the piano. I'm being kind. I think it sounds awful on the piano. Cziffra slows down at the section changes but the tempo within and across the sections themselves sounds consistent.

Anyway, for anyone looking at this...you can probably tackle it at around Grade 4/5. I bought the Schott edition which I'd recommend as it has all the necessary fingerings and separate notation for the ornaments. Maybe others do as well, but the paper's also a lot nicer than that in my work printer.