DESCRIPTION:
François Couperin (1668-1733) was certainly the greatest of the French claveinists and surely one of the greatest of French composers. In his four books of Pièces de clavecin, Couperin took the harpsichord music of Chambonnières, Marchand, and especially his uncle Louis Couperin to the pinnacle of the French musical art with clear forms, graceful melodies, elegant harmonies, and a tone that eschews virtuosity in favor of expressivity. The six ordres or suites from Couperin's second book are no longer the series of stylized dance movements in diverse keys familiar from his first book, but rather collections of works more often than not bearing some sort of descriptive title, all of which are in the same key (with the major and minor modes being considered in some sense equivalent).

"Le Moucheron" (the Gnat) is number 8 of his harpsichord collection, Deuxieme Livre, Ordre Six, published in 1717 by François Couperin and captures the essence of the flying, annoying gnat.

Although originally written for Harpsichord, I created this arrangement for Flute and Oboe, allowing the musicians to "duel" as gnats in a dynamic point-counterpoint epic battle!