New Advent
 Home   Encyclopedia   Summa   Fathers   Bible   Library 
 A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z 
New Advent
Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > R > Jean-Philippe Rameau

Jean-Philippe Rameau

Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...

Musician, b. at Dijon, Burgundy, 25 Sept., 1683; d. at Paris, 12 Sept., 1764. His father, himself an organist, was his first master. At the age of seven he was able to perform every kind of music. For his further education he was sent to a Jesuit college; but even during class he was either singing or writing music. Excepting a short stay in Italy, he always lived in France, was twice organist at Clermont, and from 1723 remained constantly in Paris, where he was organist in several churches. Rameau was very tall and extraordinarily thin, so he had more the appearance of a ghost than of a human being. He was a great thinker, fond of solitude, and out of place in society. In 1726 he married Marie-Louise Mangot, and had four children, a son and three daughters, one of whom entered the Order of the Visitation. Without denying the merits of Lully (1633-1687) and Couperin (1663-1733), the founders of the French opera, and even admitting that Rameau was not right in all the details of his theory, we must acknowledge that he opened up a new road, which was followed by all who came after him. His main principle, for the defence of which he had to sustain hard struggles, was that melody, far from being sufficient for a good piece of music, itself depends on the rules of harmony, so that the real guide of every composer is harmony, not melody. His chief merit consists in having established the relations between science and art, and in having highly developed the symphonic part of the opera. His most famous theoretical works are: "Traité de l'harmonie réduite à son principe naturel" (1722); "Génération harmonique" (1737); "Démonstration du principe de l'harmonie" (1750); "Code de musique pratique" (1760). Only at the age of fifty did he begin to write for the stage, and in sixteen years (1733-1749) he composed about thirty operas and ballets, the best of which are: "Castor et Pollux", "Les Indes Galantes", "Dardanus" and "Zoroastre". Of his church music some motets only are known. He left many compositions for the piano, either alone or with other instruments, eighteen of which have been lately published by Vincent d'Indy. Durand, in Paris, has undertaken a complete edition of Rameau's works, under the direction of Saint-Saëns.

Sources

MARET, Eloge historique de M. Rameau (Paris, 1766); POUGIN, Rameau, Essai sur sa vie et ses oeuvres (Paris, 1878); LAURENCIE, Mercure musical du 15 Juin (1907); LALOY, Rameau (Paris, 1909), 2 edit.

About this page

APA citation. Walter, A. (1911). Jean-Philippe Rameau. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12637c.htm

MLA citation. Walter, Aloysius. "Jean-Philippe Rameau." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12637c.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Gerald Rossi.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster at newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.

Copyright © 2023 by New Advent LLC. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

CONTACT US | ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT