The Bauyn manuscript is a manuscript

Manuscript

A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...

 currently in possession of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France

Bibliothèque nationale de France

The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...

 in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 (catalogue number Rés. Vm7 674–675). It is, along with several printed collections and the Parville manuscript

Parville manuscript

The Parville manuscript is a manuscript currently in possession of the UC Berkeley Music Library . Along with the Bauyn manuscript, it is one of the most important sources for French harpsichord music of the 17th century.The manuscript was created at around 1670 and discovered in Italy in 1968. The...

, one of the most important sources for French harpsichord

Harpsichord

A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...

 music of the 17th century.

The Bauyn manuscript was created somewhere around 1690, when the only published harpsichord pieces were those by Jacques Champion de Chambonnières

Jacques Champion de Chambonnières

Jacques Champion de Chambonnières was a French harpsichordist, dancer and composer. Born into a musical family, Chambonnières made an illustrious career as court harpsichordist in Paris and was considered by many of his contemporaries to be one of the greatest musicians in Europe...

, Nicolas Lebègue

Nicolas Lebègue

Nicolas Lebègue was a French Baroque composer, organist and harpsichordist. He was born in Laon and in 1650s settled in Paris, quickly establishing himself as one of the best organists of the country. He lived and worked in Paris until his death, but frequently made trips to other cities to...

 and possibly, Jean-Henri d'Anglebert

Jean-Henri d'Anglebert

Jean-Henri d'Anglebert was a French composer, harpsichordist and organist. He was one of the foremost keyboard composers of his day.-Life:...

. The name comes from the Bauyn d'Angervilliers family, who once possessed the manuscript. The manuscript is in upright format; the pieces are grouped according to their genre, not in suites; some are organized by key

Key (music)

In music theory, the term key is used in many different and sometimes contradictory ways. A common use is to speak of music as being "in" a specific key, such as in the key of C major or in the key of F-sharp. Sometimes the terms "major" or "minor" are appended, as in the key of A minor or in the...

.

Included are almost all known harpsichord pieces by Louis Couperin

Louis Couperin

Louis Couperin was a French Baroque composer and performer. He was born in Chaumes-en-Brie and moved to Paris in 1650–51 with the help of Jacques Champion de Chambonnières. Couperin worked as organist of the Church of St. Gervais in Paris and as musician at the court...

 and Chambonnières, more than 20 pieces by Johann Jakob Froberger

Johann Jakob Froberger

Johann Jakob Froberger was a German Baroque composer, keyboard virtuoso, and organist. He was among the most famous composers of the era and influenced practically every major composer in Europe by developing the genre of keyboard suite and contributing greatly to the exchange of musical...

 and music by several other composers, including Michel de la Barre

Michel de la Barre

Michel de la Barre was a French composer and renowned flautist known as being the first person to publish solo flute music...

, Jacques Hardel

Jacques Hardel

Jacques Hardel was a French composer and harpsichordist. He came from family that included two noted instrument makers: his grandfather Gilles Hardel and his father Guillaume Hardel , who was a lute maker and a well-established harpsichordist—in 1673–4 he served as harpsichord teacher...

, Étienne Richard

Etienne Richard

Étienne Richard was a French composer, organist and harpsichordist. Very little is known about his life and work. He was born in Paris and came from a family of organists; apparently he lived and worked in Paris all his life. From 1645 he and his brother Charles were organists to Chancellor Séguier...

 and Girolamo Frescobaldi

Girolamo Frescobaldi

Girolamo Frescobaldi was a musician from Ferrara, one of the most important composers of keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. A child prodigy, Frescobaldi studied under Luzzasco Luzzaschi in Ferrara, but was influenced by a large number of composers, including Ascanio...

. Most important of all the pieces are the 122 works by Louis Couperin, who was one of the most important European composers of the time and who never published any of his works; the Bauyn manuscript is a principal source for his harpsichord oeuvre.