Music Monday: Premier Livre de Pièces de Clavecin 1706
The French Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau wrote three books of Pièces de clavecin for the harpsichord. The first, Premier Livre de Pièces de Clavecin (first book of harpsichord pieces), was published in 1706. [T]he second, Pièces de Clavessin, [was] in 1724. [T]he third, Nouvelles Suites de Pièces de Clavecin, [was] in 1726 or 1727. They were followed in 1741 by Pièces de clavecin en concerts, in which the harpsichord can either be accompanied by violin (or flute) and viola da gamba or played alone. An isolated piece, La Dauphine, survives from 1747.
Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer of his time for the harpsichord, alongside François Couperin.
Little is known about Rameau’s early years. It was not until the 1720s that he won fame as a major theorist of music with his Traité de L’harmonie Réduite à ses Principes naturels (1722…Treatise on Harmony reduced to its natural principles) and also in the following years as a composer of masterpieces for the harpsichord, which circulated throughout Europe. He was almost 50 before he embarked on the operatic career on which his reputation chiefly rests today.
Rameau’s music had gone out of fashion by the end of the 18th [C]entury and it was not until the 20th [Century] that serious efforts were made to revive it. Today, he enjoys renewed appreciation with performances and recordings of his music ever more frequent.
Wikipedia Summaries
Additional Reading:
Jean Philippe Rameau (Atlanta Symphony Orchestra)
Jean-Philippe Rameau (Britannica)
Treatise On Harmony (CMuse)
Jean Philippe Rameau (Find A Grave)
Jean-Philippe Rameau Biography (The Famous People)
This entry was posted in Music and tagged 1706, 1722, 1724, 1726, 1727, 1741, 1747, 18th century, atlanta symphony orchestra, baroque, baroque music, britannica, cmuse, encyclopaedia britannica, flute, françois couperin, french composer, french opera, harpsichord, jacques-andré-loseph aved, jean-baptiste lully, jean-philippe rameau, la dauphine, musée des beaux-arts de dijon, music theorist, nouvelles suites de pièces de Clavecin, pièces de clavecin en concerts, pièces de clavessin, premier livre de pièces de clavecin, the famous people, traité de l'harmonie réduite à ses principes naturels, treatise on harmony reduced to its natural principles, viola da gamba, violin, wikimedia, wikipedia, youtube.
4 thoughts on “Music Monday: Premier Livre de Pièces de Clavecin 1706”
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June 28, 2021 at 12:20 PM
I have to give him his due…way above my little pop mind. I like how it’s in sections…a lot of work went into writing that.
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June 28, 2021 at 6:33 PM
The music pieces from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries are very intricate.
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June 28, 2021 at 7:08 PM
I listened to around 15 minutes of it. I pick melodies out that I like…but a little harpsichord goes a long ways.
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June 28, 2021 at 8:56 PM
Yeah, it does.
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