Jean Philippe Rameau Quotes

Jean-Philippe Rameau was born in Dijon, France. He was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François Couperin. His debut, Hippolyte et Aricie, caused a great stir and was fiercely attacked by the supporters of Lully's style of music for its revolutionary use of harmony. Rameau's music had gone out of fashion by the end of the 18th century, and it was not until the 20th that serious efforts were made to revive it. He was highly demanding and bad-tempered, unable to maintain longstanding partnerships with his librettists, with the exception of Louis de Cahusac, who collaborated with him on several operas, including Les fêtes de l'Hymen et de l'Amour, Zaïs, Naïs, Zoroastre, La naissance d'Osiris, and Anacréon. He is also credited with writing the libretto of Rameau's final work, Les Boréades.