La femme entre deux draps: Couperin or Rameau?

The three-part canon variously entitled La femme entre deux draps or, more often, L’épouse entre deux draps, survives in six sources from the 18th century, one of which attributes it to Couperin, while the others include no attribution. Given that the only member of the Couperin dynasty known to have written canons of this kind was François Couperin ‘le grand’, this canon has traditionally been accepted without question as part of his oeuvre. But some two decades ago, circumstantial evidence was advanced to suggest that the piece is actually by Jean-Philippe Rameau. The present article, in re-examining crucial evidence from the source materials, and in placing the canon in the context of these two composers’ other canons and particularly their notational harmonic and melodic characteristics, concludes that there is no reason to overturn the attribution to Couperin.