Rousseau's articles on music for Diderot and d'Alembert's Encyclopedie , and to a lesser extent his Dictionnaire de musique, have rarely attracted the scholarly attention they deserve. As a result, the pivotal role that Rousseau played in the early French reception of Rameau's theory of harmony has never been fully appreciated. Far from being a quarrel over musical aesthetics, Rousseau's dispute with Rameau raised fundamental questions about the composer's theory of harmony. Rousseau interrogated the empirical adequacy of Rameau's theory, the soundness of its foundations, the logic of its derivation, and its pretension to universality. Over the course of his criticism, Rousseau came to regard tonal harmony as a historically-induced particularity of Western music to be explained through historical inquiry. In this respect, he anticipates a range of ideas that historians of music theory have associated far more readily with Francois-Joseph Fetis.

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By the early eighteenth century, French music was tangibly influenced by the Italian style which had already permeated much of Europe. The French Cantata is symptomatic of that often disparaged influx. The cantatas of Rameau are a significant contribution to an important form. Written almost entirely in the early years of the artist's career, they hold details of his stylistic development. In the present study of Rameau's cantatas several aspects of his style are discussed as they relate both to his theoretic writings and to the various influences of the time. Examples of those stylistic elements found in the cantatas are cited and discussed. There is, as well, a comparison of the works to the poetic form standardized by Rousseau.

It is assumed that the performer of Le Berger Fidele will be capable of a more accurate performance and a more historically authoritative interpretation if he thoroughly understands all musical aspects of the cantata. Due to the lack of written directions from earlier composers, it is important that the performer research the period, composer, and composition to insure a more accurate, interpretive performance. The first chapter delves into the life and works of Rameau. The second chapter follows the development of the French solo cantata from the beginning of the art song to its culmination. Ornaments peculiar to French cantata are discussed in the third chapter. In Chapter IV each pair of recitative and aria is examined and analyzed according to form, harmony, rhythm, melody (including phrasing), dynamics and ornaments, and instrumentation. The cantata is built up in a succession of three arias. Each aria is da capo in form and is preceded by a recitative and an instrumental introduction. Each air is concluded with an instrumental postlude.

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished