Daquin, Louis-Claude

▪ French composer

born July 4, 1694, Paris, France

died June 15, 1772, Paris

      French harpsichordist, organist, and composer of keyboard music whose playing was noted for its neatness and precision and whose music was admired for its gentle charm.

      The godson of the composer Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, Daquin was a prodigy who played before Louis XIV at age six. By the time he was 12 he had become a professional organist, and after a series of appointments he became organist to the king in 1739. He published Premier livre de pièces de clavecin (1735; First Book of Pieces for the Harpsichord), containing his best-known work, Le Coucou, and a successful collection of carols, Noëls pour l'orgue et le clavecin.

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