Rameau, Jean-Philippe (EN)

Rameau Jean-Philippe, baptised on 25 September 1683 Dijon, †12 September 1764 Paris, French composer and theoretician. His first music teacher (organ and harpsichord playing and the art of accompaniment) was his father Jean Rameau, organist of churches around Dijon. Rameau’s brother Claude and nephew Jean-François (known for Le Neveu de Rameau by D. Diderot, 1760) were also musicians. Information about Rameau’s life before 1722, when he settled in Paris, is sketchy. Probably in 1695, he began attending the Jesuit Collège des Godrans in Dijon, where he could familiarise himself with the school’s musical theatre (allegedly he did not even complete four grades). When he was about 18, he left for Milan, soon returning to France with a theatre troupe, which he accompanied as a violinist. From then on, for almost 20 years, he worked as an organist, organiser of musical life, music teacher, and also as a composer of harpsichord pieces, motets and cantatas. For several months in 1702, he was maître de musique at the cathedral of Notre-Dame in Avignon, then organist in Clermont-Ferrand. In 1706, he went to Paris, where his Premier livre de pièces de clavecin was published, and until 1708, he was an organist at the Jesuit Collège Louis-le-Grand (Voltaire also studied there) and at the church of Pères de la Merci, and from 1709, at the church of Notre-Dame in Dijon; from 1713, he was in Lyon as maître organiste et musicien de cette ville, and in 1715–22, he was organist and choir instructor in Clermont-Ferrand. At that time, he composed motets (including Deus noster refugium) and several cantatas, studied the works of G. Zarlino, M. Mersenne and Descartes, and wrote Traité de l’harmonie. In 1722, he came to Paris to publish this treatise, which aroused keen interest not only among musicians but also among writers and scientists. Rameau’s theoretical concepts (including basse fondamentale) were widely discussed in the pages of “Mercure de France” and “Journal de Trévoux.” He soon became famous as a leading theoretician also outside France, because another treatise, Nouveau système de musique théorique (1726), was presented at the Royal Society in London. Biographers draw attention to the fact that these works are written in a poor style, and the ideas are unclearly formulated.

In this period, Rameau published other collections of works for harpsichord (Pièces de clavessin, 1724; Nouvelles suites de pièces de clavecin, ca. 1729–30) and cantatas (Cantates françaises à voix seule avec simphonie…, ca. 1729–30), and wrote music for A. Pirone’s theatre plays. In the 1720s, Rameau gained recognition (more as a theoretician, harmony teacher and harpsichordist playing basso continuo than as a composer) but did not obtain a position as an organist until the 1730s (1732–38 in Ste-Croix-de-Bretonnerie, from 1736 also at the Jesuit novitiate). In 1726, he married a singer and harpsichord player Marie-Louise Mangot (1707–85), and they had four children.

At the age of 50, Rameau debuted as an opera composer; the premiere of his first tragédie en musique Hippolyte et Aricie (1733) caused a stormy reaction; some appreciated Rameau’s compositional skills, rich harmony and the instrumentation colours emphasising the diverse moods and emotions suggested by the text, others questioned his musical-dramatic concept, modifying Lully’s tradition. This work initiated a discussion between Rameau’s supporters (ramistes, ramoneurs) and Lully’s (lullistes). Rameau’s subsequent stage works, both opéra-ballets (Les Indes galantes, 1735, Les fêtes d’Hébé, 1739) and tragédies en musique (Castor et Pollux, 1737, Dardanus, 1739) enjoyed enormous success and consolidated Rameau’s fame as a leading opera composer.

From 1736 (?) to 1753, Rameau’s backer was the financier and patron of the arts A.J.J. Le Riche de La Pouplinière, who had his own orchestra and employed Rameau as his “director of music;” people belonging to the courtly aristocracy, as well as philosophers, writers and artists met in his house and held discussions. In this environment, Rameau established contacts with the future librettists of his operas (Voltaire, L. de Cahusac, J.-F. Marmontel) and shaped his philosophical and artistic views, collaborating and arguing with J. d’Alembert, D. Diderot, J.-J. Rousseau, among others on the subject of articles on music published in the Encyclopédie. In 1745, Rameau received the honorary title of compositeur de la musique de la chambre du roy; as a composer of operas, he reached the heights of recognition and popularity at that time. In 1745–49, eleven of his new works were performed, starting from La princesse de Navarre to Zoroastre. Rameau’s operas dominated not only Parisian stages, but also provincial ones, and had such a large number of performances for those times (especially Les Indes galantes, Les fêtes d’Hébé, Castor et Pollux, Dardanus) that in 1749, as a result of the actions of Lully’s supporters, a ban was issued on the performance of more than two of Rameau’s stage works per year at the Paris Opéra.

Rameau’s authority as a theoretician was established by his treatise Génération harmonique (1737), dedicated to members of the Académie Royale des Sciences and favourably received by them; this treatise was also sent by Rameau to the Royal Society in London. In 1750, Rameau published his best and most mature theoretical work, Démonstration du principe de l’harmonie (written in collaboration with Diderot). He also propagated his own theoretical concepts as a teacher of harmony; in 1737, an advertisement appeared in the pages of “Mercure de France” that thanks to the new method, “novices” could master harmony theoretically and practically in just six months. Rameau’s students included Diderot, d’Alembert, Mme Denis (a friend of Voltaire), and earlier L.B. Castel.

In 1752–64, Rameau composed less; Apart from two larger works (Les Paladins, Les Boréades), only pastorelles (Lysis et Délié) and a few actes de ballet (Les sibarites, La naissance d’Osiris, Anacréon, Nélée et Myrthis, Zéphyre, Io) were created. The famous querelle des bouffons (1752–54) undoubtedly contributed to this; but the revival of Rameau’s old works in 1760 (Les Indes galantes, Castor et Pollux, Dardanus) was another triumph for the aged composer. Rameau’s literary activity, on the other hand, clearly intensified; at that time, he published 23 works, mainly pamphlets. The most important are works such as Observations sur notre instinct pour la musique (a reaction to J.-J. Rousseau’s Lettre sur la musique française), Code de musique pratique and Vérités également ignorées et interressantes tirées du sein de la Nature. Rameau maintained constant correspondence with important scientists and artists in Europe (including G. Cramer, J. Bernoulli, C. Wolff, L. Euler, G. Poleni, J.B. Beccari, G.B. Martini, C. Batteux, C.-E. Briseux, F. Arnaud, M. Grimm). The controversies surrounding the Encyclopédie, as well as the evolution of Rameau’s views towards a pantheistic understanding of reality, did not help maintain friendly relations with the French encyclopaedists. A few months before Rameau’s death, the king knighted him and made him a Knight of the Order of St. Michael. For many years, on the anniversary of the composer’s death, ceremonial concerts dedicated to his memory were organised in Paris and Dijon.

Rameau’s innovative theoretical ideas influenced the development of modern music theory; they dominated both the study of composition and the discourse on the analysis of a musical work, as well as philosophical considerations on the relationship between music and Nature understood in a pantheistic sense. Rameau’s music theory became the basis for teaching so-called theoretical composition at the Paris Conservatory established at the end of the 18^th century, as well as in later schools of this type; the study of harmony derived from Rameau’s theoretical assumptions still determines musical education today.

Theory of music

Among his contemporary writers and philosophers, Rameau enjoyed extraordinary recognition and authority, although his works also provoked sharp disputes and discussions. “Rameau was both the Descartes and the Newton of music, as he did for it what these two great men did for philosophy,” wrote J.B. de Laborde in Essai sur la musique ancienne et moderne (1780). Rameau’s theoretical thought was inspired by Descartes’ philosophy, his deductive method, Newton’s concept of gravity, works on acoustics (including J. Sauver), the Neoplatonism of M. Mersenne, and pantheism. In his Traité de l’harmonie (1722), Rameau wrote: “Music is a science; therefore, it must have precisely defined rules derived from some evident principle, and this principle can be recognised only by means of mathematics. I must confess that although I have had practical contact with all kinds of music for a very long time, it was only thanks to mathematics that my theoretical ideas became clear.”

As a typical representative of the Enlightenment, Rameau believed that it was possible to construct a universal, rational system of rules, based on basic axioms, defining the combination of sounds into consonances and regulating their successive combination “in accordance with Nature”. At the same time, as an organist and teacher of composition (related to the practice of basso continuo), he wanted to simplify the then-complex rules for resolving dissonant intervals and to reduce a large number of consonances to basic sound patterns. His goal was to formulate a theoretical system that was in accordance with both reason (associated with mathematical order) and the musical practice of the time. This was to be achieved by concepts such as corps sonore, son fondamental, basse fondamentale, centre harmonique and exposing terms suggesting reduction (réduire) or generation (dériver). Rameau did not refer to the traditional, Pythagorean-Platonic idea of ​​unity in diversity (related to the idea of ​​beauty and the principle of proportionality), understood as the sensually perceptible harmony of what is different, e.g. a harmony of three sounds of different pitches associated with the concept of trias. While Zarlino, in his interpretation of the consonance called trias (allegra and mesta), referred to the Pythagorean-Platonic parallelism of the sensual impression of the harmonious arrangement of three different sounds and the mathematical principle of proportion, Rameau interpreted this triad on the model of a mathematical set of elements, i.e. as a homogeneous whole called l’accord (chord), created from three or four abstract sound classes (separated by a third) and defined by the so-called son fondamental (fundamental tone). Rameau distinguished two types of model chords: l’accord parfait (perfect chord), i.e. a major or minor triad associated with the category of consonance, and 1’accord de septième (seventh chord), i.e. a four-note chord associated with the concept of dissonance.

In Rameau’s theory, the different types of dissonant chords are the result of combining four pitch classes (separated by a third) above the fundamental tone or adding a third or fifth below the fundamental tone (par supposition). Rameau assumed that the chords used in the compositional practice of that time could be treated as dérivés (derivatives) of these model chords, because he considered that the principle of chord inversion (i.e. a different arrangement of a given set of pitch classes) does not violate its identity (similarly to the operation of permutation within a mathematical set of elements). In each chord, there is generally one pitch class (the root) recognised as its fundamental tone. But Rameau allowed for certain licenses; for example, a departure from this principle is the concept of double emploi (double use) referred to a model four-note chord (e.g. re fa la do), treated either as a seventh chord (in which case the fundamental tone is re) or as l’accord de sixte ajoutée (a chord with an added sixth, i.e. fa la do re, with the fundamental tone fa). Rameau based his theory on an arbitrarily adopted axiom about the identity of a given sound and its octave. This axiom was associated with the principle of inversion (renversement), associated, among others, with the theoretical identity of two different intervals created between selected pitch classes as a result of a step up or down the pitch scale (e.g. a fifth up or a fourth down). This principle of inversion also explained the reduction of three- and four-note consonances (with different interval structures) to the two basic systems mentioned above. According to Rameau’s concept, dissonant chords can be built on any degree of the diatonic series, except for the first one, called tonique. Among the seventh chords, Rameau distinguished a chord called dominante-tonique (major with an added minor third), because he treated it as a component of a model combination of a dissonant chord with a consonant chord in a harmonic cadence. He defined chords by their fundamental tones, so he used analogous terms to both the degree of the diatonic scale and chords (e.g. the fifth degree of the scale and the seventh chord built on it he called dominante-tonique, the first degree and the consonant chord built on it tonique).

Rameau thus introduced the modern idea of ​​“unity in diversity” into music theory, which consisted of reducing the sensually perceptible diversity of sound phenomena to an abstract unity defined by the son fondamental or centre harmonique (harmonic centre), and of assuming that the impression of undifferentiation (unity) corresponds to an abstract (sensually intangible) diversity. In Rameau’s music theory, the model of unity “generating” diversity is the corps sonore (sounding body), i.e. an object (e.g. a string, defined by the number 1) stimulated to vibrate, giving the effect of one sound of a specific pitch, which is combined with abstract (auditory intangible), mathematical-physical knowledge of its various divisions related to the concept of so-called harmonic tones (defined by numbers of the natural series: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6…). The idea of ​​corps sonore as an abstract “unity in diversity,” “foundation” and “first cause” of sounds of different pitches and as a “centre” with the power to “attract” them became the basis of Rameau’s theory of music. Although in Traité de l’harmonie he does not yet mention the research in acoustics at that time, in his next work, Nouveau système… (1726), he referred to the “harmonic tones” discovered at that time by J. Sauver.

In Rameau’s theory, the basic category is basse fondamentale (fundamental bass), understood as an abstract sequence of fundamental tones of successive chords. The fifth was considered the model interval class determining the supposedly natural “movement” of the fundamental bass. In Nouveau système…, Rameau used his concept of the fundamental bass (notated on a separate staff) to analyse the monologue Enfin, il est en ma puissance from Lully’s Armida.

According to Rameau, the diverse combinations of successive chords can be reduced by the principle of inversion to several models of combining a dissonant chord with a consonant one (cadence harmonique). In Traité… Rameau distinguished three models of cadence: 1. cadence parfaite (perfect cadence), understood as the connection of the fundamental tones of these chords by a fifth step down the pitch scale (or a fourth step up), 2. cadence irrégulière (irregular cadence) as the reversal of this movement, i.e. the connection by a fifth step up the pitch scale (or a fourth step down), 3. cadence rompué (deceptive cadence), treated as a modification of the perfect cadence. Thanks to the principle of inversion, Rameau simplified the rules defining the resolution of the tritone interval appearing within the framework of a four-note chord, namely one of the tritone components, considered the third of the model dissonant chord, should be resolved up the pitch scale, while the other, treated as the seventh of this chord, should be resolved down. In this way, different sound systems, interpreted as variants of model cadences, were covered by one rule. In subsequent works, Rameau slightly modified his theory, introducing new elements. For example, in Génération harmonique (1737), he proposed the 4^th type of cadence: cadence interrompue (inter-deceptive), in which the fundamental tones of two successive chords are separated by a third down the pitch scale. Moreover, the model called cadence irrégulière in Traité…, he called cadence imparfaite (imperfect cadence; in Traité…, he used this term to describe inversions of cadence systems).

While the following degrees of the diatonic scale were distinguished in the previous theory of music: I, III (called mediant) and V (dominant), in Rameau’s theory the degrees: I (tonique), IV (called sous dominantetonique) and V (dominante-tonique) are of particular importance as the fundamental tones of chords in model harmonic cadences, distant by a fifth (up or down the pitch scale) from the tonic. Rameau justified the combination of a dissonant chord with a consonant fifth step speculatively, for example by referring in Nouveau système… to a geometric series of numbers. Influenced by the idea of ​​Newton’s gravity propagated by Voltaire, in Génération harmonique, he treated the fundamental tone of the tonic chord as the centre harmonique, i.e. the “centre attracting” the two basic, in his opinion, dissonant chords built on the note sous dominante-tonique and dominante-tonique.

In accordance with the views of the time, Rameau distinguished only two diatonic series: mode majeur and mode mineur, but he claimed that there was a hierarchical relationship between them; he considered mode majeur to be the basis of harmony (maître de 1’harmonie), because, in his opinion, only it was generated by the corps sonore. According to Rameau, the components of the harmonic cadence (i.e. the tonic, dominant-tonic and subdominant chords) define the mode and set the hierarchical relationship of subsequent degrees to the tonic note. Rameau claimed that in a musical composition one could distinguish one central tone (ton régnant) and a consonant chord built on it, called tonique; he called consonant chords appearing on other degrees of the diatonic scale tonique censée (supposed tonic), tonique passagère (transitional), etc. He claimed that “harmony gives birth to melody,” because “the rules of harmony determine the sequence of sounds in the melody;” this controversial thesis became the subject of sharp polemics, including with J.-J. Rousseau. For this reason, Rameau was also accused by his contemporaries of “dry intellectualism” and undermining the significance of melody. But he was convinced that the “theory of harmony reduced to natural principles” he proposed was clear and simple, and familiarisation with it enabled the composition of “harmonious” music even by those who had previously “barely known the notes.”

Rameau’s concepts were popularised in a simplified and systematised form by J. d’Alembert in his book Eléments de musique théorique et pratique suivant les principes de M. Rameau (1752, translated into German in 1757 by F.W. Marpurg), who emphasised the logic of Rameau’s theory, as well as its abstract character; he did not refer to auditory phenomena lasting in time, and treated the notation of sound systems differentiated in pitch as elements of a mathematical-physical theory. Rameau’s ideas, especially his concept of a model chord defined by a fundamental tone and the normative principles of combining chords related to the abstract steps of the fundamental bass, inspired subsequent generations of harmony theorists, who focused on, among others, the problem of differentiating multiple stops, on determining the logical relationship between sounds of different heights (together creating a diatonic or chromatic scale) with some “central sound,” or on establishing standards for the correct combination of consonances. The concepts of tonique, dominant, sous-dominante introduced by Rameau with respect to consonances became the basis of H. Riemann’s theory of functional harmony, and the concept of the fundamental tone was also used by 20^th-century music theorists (including Hindemith). A decisive critique of Rameau’s theory, formulated from the position of German idealist philosophy, was undertaken by H. Schenker in his work Das Meisterwerk in der Musik (1925). Rameau’s theoretical concepts can be considered an anticipation of a speculative theory of music referring to positivist and neo-positivist philosophy, a theory based on axioms and mathematical rules taken from, among others, from combinatorics, and in the 20^th century also from mathematical set theory (e.g. A. Forte’s theory of serial complexes)

Compositional work

Continuing the work of his predecessors, Rameau contributed to the development of French opera, of which he became the most outstanding representative in the 18^th century. His dramatic work encompasses all the genres of stage music cultivated in France at that time (tragédie en musique, opéra-ballet, pastorale héroïque, comédie lyrique, comédie-ballet, acte de ballet), a total of about 30 works (or about 100 acts, taking into account prologues and lost works), to librettos by, among others, P.-J. Bernard, L. de Cahusac, J.-F. Marmontel, S.-J. Pellegrin, Voltaire. In Rameau’s stage work, tragédies en musique come to the fore. Only four of the seven tragedies were performed during the composer’s lifetime: Hippolyte et Aricie (1733), Castor et Pollux (1737), Dardanus (1739), and Zoroastre (1749). They were revived many times and significantly changed – in the 2^nd version of Castor et Pollux, Rameau removed the prologue, wrote a new act 1, and arranged acts 1–5 as 2–5; in the 2^nd version of Zoroastre, the plot was changed, and acts 2, 3 and 5 received new musical arrangements; Rameau described the revised version of Dardanus, published around 1744 (new musical arrangement of acts 3–5, changes to the libretto), as a “nouvelle tragédie.” Castor et Pollux gained extraordinary recognition from his contemporaries. Rameau also composed 6 opéra-ballets (a genre initiated by A. Campra’s work L’Europe galante from 1697; works of this type did not have a uniform plot, they consisted of three or four entrées with different action); the following gained great popularity: Les Indes galantes (1735), celebrating courtship in non-European countries, Les fêtes d’Hébé (1739), and Le temple de la Gloire (1745). Rameau also wrote four pastorales-héroïques (Zaïs, Naïs, Acante et Céphise, Daphnis et Eglé), two comédies lyriques: Platée (1745), celebrating the wedding of the Dauphin (the nymph’s part was sung by the famous haute-contre Pierre de Jélyotte) and Les Paladins (1760), a comédie-ballet (La princesse de Navarre, 1745) and ten actes de ballet (including Pygmalion, 1748), composed mainly after 1753. Pastorale-héroïques and comédie lyriques had a uniform plot, devoid of dramatic conflicts, usually divided into three acts; spectacular divertissements were dominant in them. In subsequent presentations of his stage works, called comédie-ballet, comédie lyrique, opéra-ballet, pastoralehéroïque — as in tragédie en musique — Rameau introduced changes and additions.

The first tragédie en musique composed by Rameau, Hippolyte et Aricie (1733), to an excellent libretto by S.-J. Pellegrin (based on Racine’s Phèdre), aroused extraordinary interest, established Rameau’s fame as a composer of dramatic music, but also provoked a discussion on the desired model of French opera. Some (called lullistes) linked it with the idiom of Lully’s operas, which is why they considered Rameau’s work too complicated and called it baroque (with a pejorative connotation), while others (called ramistes) enthusiastically accepted Rameau’s expressive music and called him “a modern Orpheus.” Contrary to the title, the main characters of this opera are not the young lovers Hippolytus and Aricia, but the tragic figures of Theseus and Phaedra, with clearly highlighted, strong emotions, emphasised by the music. While in Racine’s drama the classical, balanced construction of dramatic threads is primarily important, in Rameau’s opera, situations of strong and long-lasting emotional tension are exposed, which help to evoke appropriate musical means. Rameau continued the form of classical French drama (division into five acts) and referred to the tradition of placing spectacular fêtes or divertissements in each act; in later works (from Zoroastre, 1749) he omitted the traditional prologue unrelated to the action, usually of a panegyric-allegorical nature; in its place an overture appeared. Rameau’s tragédies differ from Lully’s operas mainly in innovative compositional means, especially in terms of instrumentation, harmony (dissonant seventh chords, numerous appoggiaturas) and dynamics, as well as rhythm (syncopes, varied rhythmic values) and melody (e.g. steps with an increased or decreased interval), used to emphasise the musical expression corresponding to the varied emotional states of the drama’s characters.

In accordance with the French operatic tradition, recitatives are dominant in Rameau’s tragédies. They are generally a continuation of Lully’s model (syllabic melody, declamatory rhythm, frequent changes of metre) but musically they are characterised by greater sophistication, rhythmic diversity, expressiveness and melodiousness, and stability of metric accents (so-called mesurés). Rameau’s opponents claimed that his recitatives were complicated and “artificial,” while Lully’s were “more natural.” According to Voltaire, Rameau defended his concept by claiming that Lully composed for actors, while his recitatives were intended for singers. They are usually of a pathetic or dramatic nature and, interspersed with aria fragments, create an inseparable whole called airs de scènes. The recitatives were accompanied by the harpsichord or an orchestral ensemble (rich in seventh and ninth chords, modulations, enharmonic progressions, appoggiaturas, etc.). It appears already in Hippolyte et Aricie (dialogue, act 4, scene 3) and in subsequent works (especially from 1745), it was used on an increasingly large scale. Among vocal airs, we can distinguish dance songs, ariettes, airs de mouvement (sometimes referred to as petits airs or airs tendres) and monologues. Like his contemporaries, Rameau used the practice of setting words to existing dance melodies, but often modified them significantly (e.g. Pénétrez les humains in the prologue to Le temple de la Gloire). Ariettes are vocal showcase fragments, full of ornaments or coloratura. In Rameau’s first operas, they were few and short; then, under the influence of famous singers, Rameau enriched them with sophisticated technical means based on Italian arias (e.g. Un horizon serein in Les Boréades, act 1, scene 4). Less elaborate and usually several-bar, ornamental melodic lines diversifying the recitative, performed with orchestral accompaniment (e.g. Que dun objet aimé in Les Boréades, act 3, scene 2), were called airs de mouvement. Of significant importance in Rameau’s music are long monologues, usually appearing at the beginning of the act, which serve to expose the impression of pathos (e.g. Phèdre’s famous monologue Espoir, unique bien dune fatale flamme in Hippolyte et Aricie, act 3, sc. 1). They are usually in da capo form, but they differ from Italian arias in the recitative way of treating the vocal voice (syllabic melodic line, slow tempo, little varied ambitus). The emphasis of emotions is rather served by harmonic and instrumental means used in the accompaniment. In accordance with the tradition of French opera, Rameau’s works abound in choral and ensemble parts (especially duets), in which the melodic lines were initially shaped as independent (evoking a different or similar type of emotion), and later usually homorhythmic. The variety and dramatic expression of the choral part is sometimes compared to the choirs from Handel’s oratorios and Bach’s passions. Rameau used both grand choeur (4-voice, sometimes divided into 8 voices) and petit choeur (usually 3 higher voices). The alto part was usually sung by high tenors (haute-contre). Solo voices and ensembles are sometimes interwoven into the choral parts (e.g. Quel bonheur, l’enfer nous seconde in Zoroaster, act 4, sc. 6).

Rameau’s stage works are characterised by the specific quality of the orchestral sound. Both in independent fragments and those accompanying vocal voices, the composer exposed the expressive and coloristic possibilities of the instruments, used diverse articulation (e.g. pizzicato, glissando, trémolo, arpeggio), doubled the parts of different instruments (e.g. flute + violin, clarinet + violin, clarinet + oboe, oboe + horn, oboe + trumpet), and emphasised the polyphonic texture with the contrasting quality of the instruments’ sound. He enriched the orchestra with horns (from 1745) and clarinet (from 1749), used bassoons and solo flutes (associating their sound with the emotion of tenderness and the mood of melancholy). Rameau’s compositional mastery in achieving expressive nuances and distinct construction was most fully demonstrated in purely instrumental parts: overtures, symphonies, entrées, figures de ballet. In them, Rameau used, among others, such a method of instrumentation that the appropriate selection of instruments strengthened the melodic contrast of themes and highlighted the polyphonic texture (e.g. in the overture to Acante et Céphisè). He treated entrées in a new way; previously, an instrumental fragment from the previous act had been repeated between acts, whereas from the 1740s, Rameau introduced specially composed instrumental parts (Dardanus from 1744, Acante et Céphise, Castor et Pollux from 1754, Zoroastre, Les Boréades). In his operas, the overture undergoes a transformation, both in terms of the harmonic and coloristic means used and the structure. Initially, Rameau used the French overture form introduced by Lully, but from the mid-1940s (e.g. in La princesse de Navarre), he adapted the three-part structure characteristic of the Italian overture (with a slow middle section), used more sophisticated musical means, emphasising the expressive character of the dramatic action, and also sought ways of integrating the overture with the dramatic work. These changes in style can be seen especially in new arrangements of previously composed works. Ch.W. Gluck referred to Rameau’s achievements.

Rameau’s harpsichord output includes about 60 solo pieces, published mainly in three collections (1706, 1724 and ca. 1728), also in a collection that is an arrangement of fragments from the opéra-ballet Les Indes galantes (1736), and also with chamber music (1741); recently, a work attributed to Rameau, Les petits marteaux (before 1754), has been discovered. The first collection, Premier livre de pièces de clavecin (1706), contains ten pieces composed mostly in polyphonic texture (a reference to the style of L. Marchand and G. Le Roux), which make up Suite A; these are standard dances of the time (allemandes, courante, gigue, sarabandes, gavotte, minuet), a partly ametric prelude and a piece entitled Vénitienne. In the next collection Pièces de clavessin… (1724), the homophonic texture dominates and there are many pieces with titles, similarly to F. Couperin’s ordres. In the first Suite in E, dances still predominate, while in Suite in D, there are mainly pieces with titles. The third collection (ca. 1728) contains almost exclusively pieces with titles; they form Suite A and Suite G. The names of the pieces in the second and third collections refer to “nature,” its voices and fantastic creations (Le rappel des oiseaux, La poule, Les tourbillons, Les cyclopes), members of “wild” tribes or inhabitants of exotic countries (Les sauvages, L’égiptienne), suggest various moods related to surprise, joy or delicate complaint (Les soupirs, La joyeuse, Les tendres plaintes), define a playful character (La follette) or emphasise a specific compositional technique and the harmonic means used (Les trois mains, L’enharmonique). In the collection Pièces de clavecin en concerts (1741), scored for harpsichord, violin (or flute), 7-string basse de viole (or violin), the composer sets high technical requirements for the performers; the harpsichord not only realises the basso continuo, but also has concertante parts. It is noteworthy that the pieces in the five subsequent suites maintain the same key. The collections of harpsichord pieces (1724, ca. 1728, 1741) are preceded by introductions containing information on the implementation of ornaments (marked by various graphic signs) and specifically notated sound arrangements, referred to, for example, as roulements (virtuoso passages often requiring the crossing of the hands), batteries (fast figurations, e.g. repetitions of notes played alternatively by two hands, arpeggios covering even four octaves), etc. Rameau later used many (ca. 20) of harpsichord compositions in his operas, and he arranged orchestral fragments from operas for harpsichord. The collection Les Indes galantes, ballet, réduit à quatre grands concerts (1736) enjoyed particular popularity. The publication of the stage work in an instrumental version, omitting the text, sparked discussions about the functioning of the opera genre in the French society of that time (C. Dill, 1998).

Despite his many years as a church organist, Rameau composed few religious works. Only four motets have survived (two of them incomplete), probably intended for concert performance. Rameau is also the author of cantatas, like small operas (he later used the cantata Aquilon et Orithie in Act 1 of Les Boréades), composed mainly before settling in Paris.

During the ancien régime, Rameau enjoyed exceptional fame and recognition, both as an opera composer and as a harpsichordist offering amateurs an easy and quick method of learning composition. For half a century, his musical performances reigned supreme on French stages. After the outbreak of the revolution, Rameau’s music seemed to fall silent. Interest in it, stimulated by the idea of ​​French national music, intensified at the end of the 19^th century and resulted in a collective edition of Rameau’s works edited by C. Saint-Saëns and others (1895–1924). In the 20^th century, the work of W. Landowska contributed to the popularisation of harpsichord works, and stage works were occasionally performed (on the occasion of the 200^th anniversary of his death, a festival of Rameau’s music was organised in Versailles, where, in addition to instrumental works, the comédie-ballet Platée and the tragédie en musique Zoroastre were also presented). The increased interest in early music during the postmodern period contributed to the promotion of Rameau’s music (for example, in 1982, the tragédie en musique Les Boréades premiered at the festival in Aix-en-Provence); his works were included in the repertoire of the Paris Opéra. In 1967–72, all of Rameau’s theoretical works were published under the editorship of E.R. Jacobi, and in 1996 a new edition of all of Rameau’s compositions was initiated. Since 2003, the edition has been published by the Société Jean-Philippe Rameau, with worldwide distribution entrusted to Bärenreiter. (Rameau’s Opera omnia edition is divided into six series: Series I: Instrumental Music, Series II: Sacred Vocal Music, Series III: Secular Vocal Music, Series IV: Stage Music, Series V: Fragments, Incomplete Works and Works of Questionable Authenticity, Series VI: Research Materials.) There are therefore grounds for reinterpreting the musical and scientific legacy of this outstanding creator of French opera and a theoretician representing the philosophical thought of the Enlightenment. In 2014, Sylvie Bouissou published the monumental monograph Jean-Philippe Rameau: Musicien des Lumières, which is a summary of the historical knowledge and musicological research available today on the great musician-philosopher.

Literature:

Letters and documents:

L. de La Laurencie Quelques documents sur Jean-Phillippe Rameau et sa famille, Paris 1907; J. Tiersot Lettres inédites de Rameau, “La Revue Musicale” XVI, 1935; E.R. Jacobi Nouvelles lettres inédites de Jean-Philippe Rameau, «Recherches sur la Musique Franҫaise Classique» III, 1962; E.R. Jacobi Rameau and Padre Martini. New Letters and Documents, “The Musical Quarterly” L, 1964; L.E. Miller Rameau and the Royal Society of London. “New” Letters and Documents, “The Musical Quarterly” LXVI, 1985; H. Schneider Rameau et sa famille. Nouveaux documents, «Recherches sur la Musique Franҫaise Classique» XXIII, 1985; V. de Wispeleare, T. Vernet, J’ai trop confiance, Monseigneur, en vos lumières et en votre justice: Une lettre inédite de Rameau retrouvée à la Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, “Revue de musicologie” II, 2013.

Life and work:

books:

M.P.G. de Chabanon Eloge de M. Rameau, Paris 1764; H. Maret Eloge historique de M. Rameau, Dijon 1766; M. Brenet La jeunesse de Rameau, Turin 1902; H. Quittard Les années de jeunesse de Jean-Philippe Rameau, “Revue d’histoire et de critique musicales” II, 1902; L. Laloy Rameau, Paris 1908, 3^rd ed. 1919; L. de La Laurencie Rameau. Biographie critique, Paris 1908, 2^nd ed. 1926; P. Lasserre L’esprit de la musique française de Rameau à l’invasion wagnérienne, Paris 1917; G. Migot Jean-Phlippe Rameau et le génie de la musique française, Paris 1930; P.-M. Masson L’opéra de Rameau, Paris 1930, reprint New York 1972; M.M. Meyer J.-P. Rameau – J.S. Bach, Chambery 1946; J. Gardien Jean-Philippe Rameau, Paris 1949; Y. Tiénot Jean-Philippe Rameau, Paris 1954; M. Charlier Jean-Philippe Rameau, Lyon 1955; C. Girdlestone Jean-Philippe Rameau. His Life and Work, London 1957, new ed. New York 1969; P. Berthier Réflexions sur l’art et la vie de Jean-Philippe Rameau, Paris 1957; J. Malignon Rameau, Paris 1960, 2^nd ed. 1978; M. Ogilbianka Jean-Philippe Rameau, Katowice 1966; N. Zaslaw Rameau, Londyn 1980; P. Beaussant „Dardanus” de Rameau, Paris 1980; Jean-Philippe Rameau. Musique raisonnée, red. C. Kintzler and J.-C. Malgoire, Paris 1980 (includes Démonstration du principe de l’harmonie); C. Kintzler Jean-Philippe Rameau. Splendeur et naufrage de l’esthétique du plaisir à l’âge classique, Paris 1983, revised 2^nd ed. 1988; D. Paquette Jean-Philippe Rameau, musicien bourguignon, Saint-Seine-l’Abbaye 1984; Jean-Philippe Rameau, materials from the international colloquium in Dijon 21–24 September 1983, ed. J. de La Gorce, Paris 1987 (includes, among others P. Lescat Conclusions sur l’origine des sciences); D. Foster Jean-Philippe Rameau. A Guide to Research, New York 1989; S. Bouissou Jean-Philippe Rameau. „Les Boréades”ou la tragédie oubliée, Paris 1992; C. Dill Monstrous Opera. Rameau and the Tragic Tradition, Princeton (New Jersey) 1998; Ch. A. Roche En litterature comme en musique: De Rameau au Neveu de Rameau, (doctoral dissertation) University of Colorado, 2003; S. Bouissou Jean-Philippe Rameau: Musicien des Lumières, Paris 2014; R. Legrand, R.-M. Trotier (ed.), En un acte: Les actes de ballet de Jean-Philippe Rameau, Château-Gontier sur Mayenne 2019.

articles:

P.-M. Masson Rameau and Wagner, “The Musical Quarterly” XXI, 1939; E. Kisch Rameau and Rousseau, “Music and Letters” XXII, 1941; B. Pociej Rameau i kolor francuskiej muzyki, “Ruch Muzyczny” 1964 No. 17; C. Girdlestone Voltaire, Rameau et “Samson” and J. Malignon Zoroastre et Sarastro, «Recherches sur la Musique Franҫaise Classique» VI, 1966; M. Cyr “Inclina Domine”. A Marian Motet Wrongly Attributed to Rameau, “Music and Letters” LVIII, 1977; G. Sadler Rameau’s Harpsichord Transcriptions from “Les Indes galantes”, “Early Music” VII, 1979; G. Sadler Naïs. Rameau’s “opéra pour la paix,” “The Musical Times” CXXI, 1980; M. Cyr Eighteenthcentury French and Italian Singing. Rameau’s Writing for the Voice, “Music and Letters” LXI, 1980; G. Sadler Rameau and the Orchestra, “Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association” CVIII, 1981/82; G. Sadler Rameau, Pellegrin and the Opéra. The Revision of “Hippolyte et Aricie” during Its First Season and M. Cyr Towards a Chronology of Rameau’s Cantatas, “The Musical Times” CXXIV, 1983; F. Wesołowski Muzyka na klawesyn solo J.-P. Rameau and Kompozycje klawesynowe ze zbioru “Les Indes galantes” J.-P. Rameau, «Muzyka Fortepianowa» V, VI, «Prace Specjalne Akademii Muzycznej w Gdańsku» No. 29, 1983 and No. 37, 1985; L. Sawkins Rameau’s Last Years. Some Implications of Re-discovered Material at Bordeaux, “Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association” CXI, 1984/85; G. Sadler A Re-examination of Rameau’s Self-Borrowings, in: Jean-Baptiste Lully and the Music of the French Baroque, J.R. Anthony’s commemorative book, ed. J.H. Heyer et al., New York 1989 “Les Cahiers de la Société Rameau”, Paris 1982–; special issues: “Le Courrier Musical,” 1908 No. 10, “La Revue Musicale” 1965 No. 260, “Early Music” XI/4, 1983 ; R. Legrand Rameau des villes et Rameau des champs: Itinéraires de quelques mélodies ramistes, de la bergerie au vaudeville, “Musurgia: Analyse et pratique musicales” I, 2002; Ph. Lautenschläger Zur musikalischen Dramaturgie der Divertissements in Jean-Philippe Rameaus Hippolyte et Aricie, “Die Musikforschung” I,  2006; É. Kocevar Les relations sociales des Rameau à la lumière des archives judiciaires de la ville de Dijon, “Revue musicale de Suisse romande” IV, 2015; B. Righetti Jean-Philippe Rameau nous par de l’accordage au début du 18e siècle, “La tribune de l’orgue: Revue trimestrielle Suisse Romande” IV, 2016; D. Guigue Des passions et des sons: Notes sur l’orchestration de Rameau, “Musica theorica” II, 2017; T. Soury Rameau et Bacchus: De la chanson à boire à la scène de l’opéra, in: Le vin et la musique: Accords et désaccords, ed. Florence Gétreau, Paris – Bordeaux, 2018.

J. La Gorce Éléments pour une vie de Jean-Philippe Rameau; M.-F. Christout L’opéra-ballet de Campra à Rameau: Un genre français; P. Denécheau Rameau et le ballet; J.-M. Fauquet Rameau après Rameau: La mort des dieux?; M.-F. Christout L’opéra-ballet de Campra à Rameau: Un genre français; S. Bouissou Rameau, un artiste qui dérange; Ph. Beaussant Enracinement traditionnel et caractéristiques de l’art de Rameau; Ch. Cazaux Rameau: Les Indes galantes, “L’avant-scène: Opéra” (312) 2019.

R. Legrand Sexage des éléments musicaux, théorie genrée: Le cas de Jean-Philippe Rameau, in: La musique a-t-elle un genre?, ed. M. Traversier, A. Ramaut, Paris 2019.

Theory:

books:

C. Batteux Les beaux-arts réduits à un même principe, Paris 1746, 3^rd ed. 1773, reprint 1970; P. Estève Nouvelle découverte du principe de l’harmonie, avec un examen de ce que M. Rameau a publié sous le titre de “Démonstration de ce principe,” Paris 1751, 2^nd ed. 1752; C.-E. Briseux Traité du beau essentiel dans les arts (…) avec un traité des proportions harmoniques, Paris 1752; J. d’Alembert Eléments de musique théorique et pratique suivant les principes de M. Rameau, Paris 1752, extended 2^nd ed. Lyon 1762, 3^rd ed. 1772, reprint New York 1966, German transl. F.W. Marpurg as Herrn J. d’Alembert (…) systematische Einleitung in die musikalische Setzkunst…, Leipzig 1757; S. Ducharger Réflexions sur divers ouvrages de M. Rameau, Rennes 1761; J.-A. Serre Observations sur les principes de l’harmonie, Geneva 1763; P-J. Roussier Traité des accords, et de leur succession selon le système de la basse-fondementale, Paris 1764; M. Shirlaw The Theory of Harmony (…) with an Examination of the Chief Systems of Harmony from R. to the Present Day, London 1917, 21955, reprint New York 1969; E.R. Jacobi Die Entwicklung der Musiktheorie in England nach der Zeit von Jean-Philippe Rameau, 2 volumes, Strasbourg 1957–60, new ed. Baden-Baden 1971; R. Suaudeau Le premier système harmonique, dit clermontois, de Jean-Philippe Rameau, Clermont-Ferrand 1958; R. Suaudeau Introduction à l’harmonie de Rameau, Clermont-Ferrand 1960; M.M. Keane The Theoretical Writings of Jean-Philippe Rameau, Washington 1961; H. Pischner Die Harmonielehre JeanPhilippe Rameaus, ihre historischen Voraussetzungen und ihre Auswirkungen im französischen, italienischen und deutschen musiktheoretischen Schrifttum des 18. Jahrhunderts, Leipzig 1963, 2^nd ed. 1967; T. Christensen Rameau and Musical Thought in the Enlightenment, Cambridge 1993, M. Aleksandrowicz Teoria harmonii Jeana Ph. Rameau: Traité de l’harmonie (1722). Nouveau systême de musique théorique (1726), Lublin 2014 (https://www.kul.pl/files/1012/Articles_PDF/Milosz_Aleksandrowicz_- _Teoria_harmonii_J._Ph._Rameau_fragm..pdf); Jean Philippe Rameau, Traktat o harmonii (1722). Księga III. Zasady kompozycji. Księga IV. Zasady akompaniamentu, translation, edition and musicological comment by M. Aleksandrowicz, Lublin 2022.

articles:

J. Chailley Rameau et la théorie musicale, A. Machabey Jean-Philippe Rameau et le tempérament égal (“Nouveu système de musique théorique,” 1726) and M.G. Moreau Jean-Philippe Rameau et la pédagogie, “La Revue Musicale” 1964 No. 260; R.A. Leigh Rousseau et Rameau, in: Correspondance complète de Jean-Jacques Rousseau, vol. 2, Geneva 1965; E.C. Verba The Development of Rameau’s Thoughts on Modulation and Chromatics, “Journal of the American Musicological Society” XXVI, 1973; D. Hayes Rameau’s “Nouvelle Méthode,” “Journal of the American Musicological Society” XXVII, 1974; C.P. Grant The Real Relationship between Kimberger’s and Rameau’s Concept of the Fundamental Bass, “Journal of Music Theory” XXI, 1977; D. Lewin Two Interesting Passages in Rameau’s “Traitéde l’harmonie,” “In Theory Only” IV, 1978; E.C. Verba Rameau’s Views on Modulation and Their Background in French Theory, “Journal of the American Musicological Society” XXXI, 1978; J.W. Bernard The Principle and the Elements. Rameau’s Controversy with D’Alembert, “Journal of Music Theory” XXIV, 1980; C. Kintzler Rameau et Voltaire. Les enjeux théoriques d’une collaboration orageuse, “Revue de Musicologie” LXVII, 1981; C. Dahlhaus Ist Rameaus “Traité de l’harmonie” eine Harmonielehre?, “Musiktheorie” I, 1986; T. Christensen Eighteenth-Century Science and the “corps sonore”. The Scientific Background to Rameau’s Principle of Harmony, JMT XXXI, 1987; T. Christensen Rameau’s “L’art de la basse fondamentale,” “Music Theory Spectrum” IX, 1987; B. Hyer “Sighing Branches”: Prosopopoeia in Rameau’s “Pigmalion” and Before Rameau and After, “Music Analysis” XIII, 1994 and XV, 1996; A. Jarzębska Założenia teorii harmonii Jeana Philippe’a Rameau, in: Z dziejów myśli o muzyce, Kraków 2002; S. Sönksen Die Idee des stummen Fundamentes bei Rameau, Kirnberger und Sechter, “Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie” II, 2013; L. Spaltenstein Die Mythisierung der Musiktheorie: Rameaus “corpus sonore” und der Ursprung von Musik, in: Über den Ursprung von Musik: Mythen, Legenden, Geschichtsschreibungen, ed. S. Wegner, Würzburg 2017; C.L. García Gallardo De Rameau a Schenker: Principales teorías armónicas, “Revista del Conservatorio Superior de Música de Málaga” V, 2017; A. Hausmann Das natürliche Vorbild der Harmonielehre: Naturwissenschaftliche Modelle in Rameaus Musiktheorie, “Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Musiktheorie” I, 2022.