Couperin manner
Ornament table after François Couperin.
What it means
This term refers to the doctrine of ornamentation of François Couperin. The French composer prefaced his keyboard works with a table in which he fixed the execution of their signs exactly — together with the express expectation that his pieces be played in this way and no other.
Such tables are characteristic of the French music of the Baroque. The ornaments, called agréments there, are not arbitrary decoration but a fixed part of the composition; their signs form a system of their own, which differs from the Italian practice of free diminution.
The expression “Manier” is the old German word for ornament in general. It is met in the German music theory of the eighteenth century and means there the same as agrément or ornamento.
In the notation
The signs stand above or beside the notes and include, among others, hooks, loops, and small strokes for trills, mordents, appoggiaturas, and ties. Their meaning is not self-explanatory, which is why editions print the corresponding table. The same or similar signs are executed differently in other traditions.
Musical use
The ornaments shape the sound of French harpsichord music so strongly that a piece without them is hardly recognizable. They articulate the melody, emphasize dissonances, and prolong notes on an instrument whose sound decays quickly. They thus fulfil a tonal function at the same time, not only a decorative one.
Couperin published his ornament table in 1713 in the first book of his Pièces de clavecin. It explains signs such as pincé, tremblement, and port de voix. It connects each sign with a written-out execution.
Performance practice
Look up the signs in the table of the edition before you execute them, and do not rely on the meaning the same sign has elsewhere. Begin trills in this tradition, as a rule, on the upper auxiliary note and on the beat. Execute the ornaments at the tempo of the piece, not faster. And treat them as part of the melody, not as an addition.