Micrologus; Jean-Philippe Rameau

82-03 JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU

“In whatever progress music has made thus far it appears that the more sensible the ear becomes of its marvelous effects, the less curious the mind is to fathom its true principles, so that one may say that while experience has here acquired a certain authority reason has lost its rights.”

So begins the Traité de l’Harmonie (Treatise on Harmony) by the great 18th century theorist and composer Jean-Philippe Rameau; and I think it is clear that the preoccupation with "reason" here stated places Rameau and his work squarely in the era we know as the Enlightenment. In fact Rameau seems to have been the uncle of the famous encyclopedist, Diderot. Rameau's study of music as a "science" earned him recognition as the father of the theory of modern functional harmony. Even in his own day, however, Rameau struggled against the image of being a "mere theorist,” and today his musical works are still little-known. But 1983 will be the 300th anniversary of his birth; and while we deal this year with a promised flood of recordings marking the 250th anniversary of Franz Josef Haydn's birth, I thought it would be a good idea to take a few minutes to anticipate the Rameau Tercentenary—a little advance P.R. work, in other words.

1722 was a banner year for Jean-Philippe Rameau. For 20 years he had been a church organist, primarily at Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral in central France, but in 1722 he obtained a release from his contract there, first by refusing to play for an important feast day service, then by playing for the service with all of the most displeasing stops and dissonances that he could muster. He then moved to Paris, published his Traité de l’Harmonie and began concentrating on composing music for harpsichord. He had already published one book of such pieces, and in 1724 and 1728 appeared his second and third books. From the latter we'll hear first a piece whose title and figuration suggest a programmatic quality: "La Poule" (The Chicken).

[MUSIC: "La Poule" by Jean-Philippe Rameau, performed by Kenneth Gilbert on an original 18th century Parisian-built harpsichord by the expert German builder Henri Hemsch]

It is interesting that the temperament chosen for the performance was one put forward by J. J. Rousseau, a self-declared enemy of Rameau. Rameau had a reputation for being cantankerous enough to object on such grounds, but we'll allow Mr. Gilbert one more selection. From the same book: "Les sauvages”.

[MUSIC: "Les Sauvages" by Jean-Philippe Rameau, performed by Kenneth Gilbert]

The 1728 book from which that piece comes is the last publication which Rameau devoted to solo harpsichord music. In 1741, he gave the world something different with the publication of his Pièces de Clavecin en Concert. Consisting of 5 concerts or concertos, these pieces were capable of being played by harpsichord alone but were really intended for a small ensemble consisting of harpsichord and two other instruments, the choice of which was left to the performers. We'll hear first a piece entitled "La Rameau.” As with the solo works many of these pieces bear descriptive titles, and while Rameau himself says in the introduction that some of the works were named by others, the tendency has been to search for some programmatic connection between title and music. "La Rameau,” it has been suggested, may represent the appeggios and scales in the simultaneous practising of all the little Rameaus. The performance is by Gustav Leonhardt with Sigiswald and Wieland Kuijken.

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Since Rameau gives alternative scoring possibilities for this collection, I thought it would be interesting to compare the texture we just heard with a performance using transverse flute instead of violin. This time the piece is “L’Agaçante" and the performance is by the Oberlin Baroque Ensemble.

[MUSIC: "L'Agaçante" from the Pieces de Clavecin en Concert by Jean- Philippe Rameau, performed by Robert Willoughby, Catharina Meints, and Lisa Crawford of the Oberlin Baroque Ensemble]

Among Rameau's other works is a handful of secular cantatas mostly for solo voice, obbligato instruments, and continuo. And perhaps the best known of these today is “L’Impatience" which features soprano voice and viola da gamba, here performed by Ann Monoyios and Mary Springfels, respectively, assisted by James Richman harpsichord. The opening recitative and aria tell of the lover's pain and frustration while waiting anxiously at a trysting-place in the woods.

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Rameau's fame as a composer in the latter part of his life was founded upon his operas. From Lully, Rameau had inherited and perfected a way of writing recitative which was sensitive at the same time both to the drama and to the characteristic nuance of French speech. The bold harmonies and the rich palette of orchestral colours, however, came from his own special genius. Indeed, so rich is the texture of Rameau's operas that the composer Gluck, himself an opera composer, reportedly said upon hearing his first Rameau opera: “It simply stinks of music!” The following odor is from the opening of Castor et Pollux (Rameau's masterpiece, composed in 1737).

[MUSIC: The Concentus Musicus of Vienna and the Stockholm Chamber Choir, directed by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, performing the overture and first chorus from Rameau's Castor et Pollux]

I'm sure Rameau would be furious with me for ending on such a harmonically weak cadence (unfortunately that is all we have time for). He seems to have become obsessed in his old age with matters of harmonic theory. It was said at the time that if his wife and daughter were to die, the only thing that would concern him would be whether the octaves and twelfths could be heard among the harmonics of the funeral bells. Well, if Rameau is now spinning in his grave we'll consider it a warm-up for his 300th birthday party in 1983!

You've been listening to a program featuring the music of the great 18th-century French theorist and composer Jean-Philippe Rameau.