Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683 - 1764) French

      A list of Rameau's musical works     A list of Rameau's operas

                Jean-Philippe Rameau (pronounce) was one of the most important French composers 

        and theorists of the Baroque era.   His operas and harpsichord music are his most famous 

        accomplishments.  Rameau was a friend of Voltaire and argued with the other Enlightenment 

        philosophes like Jean-Jacques Rousseau over the direction of music.

                Little is known about Rameau's early years.  He was largely unknown until he gained 

        fame as a music theorist with his 1722 book Treatise on Harmony.  In the following years 

        he gained further recognition as a composer of harpsichord masterpieces which circulated 

        throughout Europe.  

                Rameau was almost 50 when he embarked on his operatic career.  His debut Hippolyte 

        et Aricie (1733), caused a great stir and was fiercely attacked by supporters of Jean-Baptiste 

        Lully's style of music for its revolutionary use of harmony.  (Lully had been the court composer 

        of Louis XIV in the 1670s and 1680s).  Nevertheless, Rameau's pre-eminence in the field of 

        French opera was soon acknowledged, and he was later attacked as an "establishment" 

        composer by those who favored Italian opera during the controversy known as the Querelle 

        des Bouffons in the 1750s.

                Rameau's music had gone out of fashion by the end of the 18th century, and was revived 

        in the 20th.  Today, he enjoys renewed appreciation of his music. 

                3 hours and 40 minutes of Rameau's keyboard music played on piano 



Keyboard music - In his day, Rameau rivaled Francois Couperin as the best 

                                keyboard composer in France. 

         Harpsichord:  Tamborin  (2:00)

         Piano Pieces, Grigory Sokolov  (12:35) 

               Les Cyclops  (4:00)
               Les Tendres Plaintes  (The Tender Complaints) (4:25)
               La  Poule  (The Hen)  (4:10)


    Operas      

        Hippolyte et Aricie  (1733)


        Castor et Pollux  (1737)


        Dardanus  (1739)   (8:00) 

              Synopsis:  The original story is loosely based on that of Dardanus.  However, in the opera, 

              Dardanus is at war with King Teucer, who has promised to marry his daughter Iphise to 

              King Anténor.  Dardanus and Iphise meet, through the intervention of the magician 

              Isménor, and fall in love.  Dardanus attacks a monster ravaging Teucer's kingdom, saving 

              the life of Anténor who is attempting, unsuccessfully, to kill it.  Teucer and Dardanus make 

              peace, the latter marrying Iphise. 

                It was first performed by the Académie de musique   at its theater in the Palais-Royal in 

       Paris on 19 November 1739.  It received 26 performances, mainly because of the support from

       Rameau's followers in the dispute between the styles of Rameau and  Lully.  Critics accused 

       Rameau's original opera of lacking a coherent plot.   The inclusion of the sea monster also 

       violated the French operatic convention of having a clear purpose for encounters with 

       supernatural beings.

      "Ritournelle Vive, Entrée d'Isménor"  (2:00)
      "Monstre affreux, monstre redoutable" ("Frightful monster, fearsome monster")  (3:10)
      "Paix Favorable"  ("Favorable Peace")  (2:45)