About 10 years ago, harpsichordist and conductor Trevor Pinnock released a recording of Jean-Philippe Rameau's keyboard music.
Mr. Pinnock plays a special antique instrument on the recording. The instrument comes from the Raymond Russell collection in Edinburgh.
French Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau was born in 1683, two years before Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frederic Handel and Domenico Scarlatti.
Initially, Rameau was known as a music theorist, not a composer. He published his Treatise on Harmony in 1722, when he was in his late 30s.
He didn't write his first opera until he was nearly 50 — and then he wrote dozens more.
Compared to J.S. Bach or Domenico Scarlatti, Rameau didn't write much keyboard music. However, his keyboard music was innovative and extraordinary.
On this week's Learning to Listen, hear harpsichordist and conductor Trevor Pinnock play and discuss what makes Jean-Philippe Rameau special.
Program Playlist
Ottorino Respighi
The Birds: La Poule
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
DG 437533
Jean-Philippe Rameau
La Poule (The Hen)
Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord
Avie 2056
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Nouvelles Suites de Pieces de Clavecin, Suite in A minor "La Triomphante"
Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord
Avie 2056
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Pièces de Clavecin, Suite in E minor "Allemande"
Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord
Avie 2056
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Les Cyclopes
Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord
Avie 2056
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Pieces de Clavecin, "Les Tourbillons"
Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord
Avie 2056
Camille Saint-Saens
Carnival of the Animals, "Hens and Cockerels"
The London Sinfonietta
Charles Dutoit
London/Decca 414460
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Nouvelles Suites de Pièces de Clavecin, Suite in A minor "Sarabande"
Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord
Avie 2056
Arcangelo Corelli
Trio Sonata #24 in G
Simon Standage, Micaela Comberti, violin
Anthony Pleeth, cello
Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord
Archiv 419614
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Premier Concert: "La Vezinet"
Rachel Podger, violin
Jonathan Manson, viola da gamba
Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord
Channel Classics 19002
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Nouvelles Suites de Pièces de Clavecin, Suite in A minor "Allemande"
Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord
Avie 2056
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Pieces de Clavecin, Suite in E minor "Le Rappel des Oiseaux"
Trevor Pinnock, harpsichord
Avie 2056
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