Couperin: Les Barricades Mystérieuses, for double bass quartet (arr. Messina)

About the Edition

The Mysterious Barricades (or Les Baricades Mistérieuses in its original spelling) is the title of a harpsichord piece composed by François Couperin in 1717, the fifth of the 6th Order in the key of B flat major, from his second book of "pièces de clavecin."
It is characteristic of the broken style of French baroque keyboard music.

The work is a rondeau, a variation of the traditional romanesca in four beats in the bass rather than in the usual ternary rhythm.

It has a chorus and three verses of unequal length. The four parts create a changing tapestry of melody and harmony. The overlapping melodies and different rhythmic arrangements create a shimmering, kaleidoscopic and seductive effect of sonic "trompe l'oeil", evoking, through centuries of anticipation, images of “fractal mathematics”.

The score is marked “Vivement.” The piece combines a certain liveliness with a melancholy and mysterious character.

A full score and individual parts are included.