(b Paris, 4 July 1694; d there, 15 June 1772). French organist and composer. The finest player of his generation, he held organist's posts in Paris from the age of 12; in 1739 he became organiste du roi, and later he worked at Notre Dame. He composed four harpsichord suites (1735), including descriptive pieces such as ‘Le coucou’, and a book of noëls for keyboard or other instruments.
A child prodigy and a student of Louis Marchand (not to mention godson of composer Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, who gave him his first keyboard lessons), Louis-Claude Daquin first attracted attention at age six, when he played the clavecin for King Louis XIV. Descent from a line of Jewish intellectuals did not impede his early professional progress. At age eight he conducted his own Beatus vir at Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, and by age 12 he had become organist at the convent of Petit St.-Antoine, where the faithful flocked to hear the wunderkind organist as much as to attend religious services. In 1727 he triumphed over Jean-Philippe Rameau in a competition for a position he would hold for the rest of his substantial life, organist at St.-Paul. In 1732 he added to his duties organist of the Cordeliers, succeeding Marchand. As if this weren't enough, in 1739 he found himself appointed -- this time without competition -- as organist of the Chapelle Royale. Furthermore, he was given one of the four organ posts at Notre Dame in 1755. He also performed as a guest at several other venues. Just as conductor Herbert von Karajan held so many important simultaneous posts in the twentieth century that he was called the "music director of Europe," Daquin was the principal organist of Paris.
Daquin was a celebrated improviser, but he also wrote widely for publication; his most famous composition is the twittering bird piece Le Coucou. Christmastime always brings performances and recordings, particularly in France, of his Noëls pour l'orgue ou la clavecin. His other major publication is the Livre de pièces de clavecin, first published in 1735. Some of his pieces are strongly influenced by Couperin, but many are quite original; some are obsessed with a single, unvaried melodic unit, while others take an up-to-date, fully fleshed-out sonata form. ~ James Reel, All Music Guide
Louis-Claude Daquin was born in Paris, to a converted Jewish family from Carpentras originating from Italy (where their name was D'Acquino). One of his great-uncles was a professor of Hebrew at the College de France. Daquin was a musical child prodigy, for he performed for the court of King Louis XIV at the age of six. He was for a while a pupil of Louis Marchand. At the age of 12, he became organist at the Sainte-Chapelle, and in the following year took a similar post at the church of the Petit St. Antoine.
In 1727 Daquin was appointed organist at the church of St. Paul in Paris, besting Jean-Philippe Rameau for the job. Five years later he became organist, succeeding Louis Marchand, at the Cordeliers. In 1739 he became organist to the king. In 1755 he succeeded Antoine Calvière as titular organist at the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris.
By reputation a dazzling performer at the keyboard, Daquin was much appreciated by the aristocracy and his great expertise at the organ drew considerable crowds to hear him. As a virtuoso organist and harpsichordist, he was known for his "unfaltering precision and evenness".
Compositions
At age eight, he conducted his own choral work, Beatus Vir. Some of his harpsichord improvisations went into his Nouveau livre de noëls which was published in 1757. Trois cadences is another highly original keyboard work which uses a triple trill. Daquin's surviving music includes four harpsichord suites, settings of Christmas pastorals (noëls), a cantata, and an air à boire. Among the most famous of his works are the Swiss Noel (Noël Suisse) and Le Coucou (The Cuckoo) which is from his 1735 harpsichord book. The Cuckoo (Coucou).
"Louis-Claude Daquin," in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. ISBN 1-56159-174-2