A term used in 18th- and 19th-century French treatises for a bowstroke in general. It is occasionally found in such qualified forms as coup d’archet articulé (see Bow, §II, 2(iv)). The special term le premier coup d’archet was used in the late 18th century to refer to the loud tutti passage (often in unison) with which so many symphonies began. The device was thought to have been invented by Lully. Mozart made use of it several times, notably at the beginning of his ‘Paris’ Symphony about which he joked in a letter to his father (12 June 1778): ‘I have been careful not to neglect the premier coup d’archet – and that is quite enough. What a fuss the oxen here make of this trick! The devil take me if I can see any difference! They all begin together, just as they do in other places’.

Source: Coup d’archet : Oxford Music Online – oi