Chaumes-en-Brie · Saint-Gervais · 1626 – 1860

The Couperin family tree

Six generations of musicians, eight Couperins at the same organ: from brother to brother, father to son, cousin to cousin, and finally father to daughter.

Each line is a life, from birth to death. A thin line links each child to their father. The red lines are the organists of Saint-Gervais in Paris, numbered in the order in which they succeeded one another at the organ.

Family tree on a timeline

160016001650165017001700175017501800180018501850Charles Couperin the olderc. 1595 – 1654Charles — view page2Charles1638 – 1679François the Great — view page3François the Great1668 – 1733Marguerite-Antoinette1705 – 1778Marie-Madeleine1690 – 1742François the elderc. 1631 – 1701 (or 1708/1712)4Nicolas1680 – 1748Armand-Louis — view page5Armand-Louis1727 – 1789Gervais-François — view page7Gervais-François1759 – 18268Céleste-Thérèse1793 – 18606Pierre-Louis1755 – 1789Marguerite-Louise1676 – 1728Louis — view page1Louis1626 – 1661

Organist of Saint-GervaisOther family memberDescent

The organ loft of Saint-Gervais

Eight organists, a single family

From 1653 to 1826, for more than a hundred and seventy years, the organ of the church of Saint-Gervais in Paris remained with the Couperins, but for one interim: when Charles died in 1679, Michel-Richard de Lalande held it until his son François, still a child, was old enough to take it on. The first was Louis, born in Chaumes-en-Brie. The last, Céleste-Thérèse, chosen in April 1826 to succeed her father, kept the post for only a few months: Jean-Nicolas Marrigues was then appointed, in 1826 according to the MUSEFREM database of the Centre de musique baroque de Versailles.

  1. Louis

    harpsichordist, organist and viol player · son of Charles Couperin the older · born in Chaumes-en-Brie

    1626 – 1661

  2. Charles

    organist · son of Charles Couperin the older · born in Chaumes-en-Brie

    1638 – 1679

  3. François the Great

    organist, harpsichordist, composer · son of Charles

    1668 – 1733

  4. Nicolas

    organist · son of François the elder

    1680 – 1748

  5. Armand-Louis

    organist, composer · son of Nicolas

    1727 – 1789

  6. Pierre-Louis

    organist, “Couperin the elder” · son of Armand-Louis

    1755 – 1789

  7. Gervais-François

    organist, “Couperin the younger” · son of Armand-Louis

    1759 – 1826

  8. Céleste-Thérèse

    organist · daughter of Gervais-François

    1793 – 1860

Around them

The other musicians of the family

  • Charles Couperin the older — instrumentalist in Chaumes-en-Briec. 1595 – 1654
  • Marguerite-Antoinette — harpsichordist of the King’s chamber, daughter of François the Great1705 – 1778
  • Marie-Madeleine — nun, organist, daughter of François the Great1690 – 1742
  • François the elder — musician, son of Charles Couperin the olderc. 1631 – 1701 (or 1708/1712)
  • Marguerite-Louise — singer, daughter of François the elder1676 – 1728

Sources and caveats

Simplified genealogy after the articles “Famille Couperin” (French Wikipedia) and “Couperin family” (English Wikipedia, after Grove). Both sources agree on the order of succession at Saint-Gervais. They differ on the death of François the elder (1701, or between 1708 and 1712); for the birth of Charles they give 1639, but his baptismal record of 9 April 1638, published by Charles Bouvet in 1919, and the plaque in Chaumes-en-Brie give 1638. Other children whose dates are not established are not shown, nor is the branch of Élisabeth Couperin and her son Marc-Roger Normand, organist in Turin.

Their home town no longer has an organ worthy of them.

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