Early 18th Century Opera in France

In early 18th century, Opera became less popular in France; ballets were more popular and a number of ballet-related genres developed; but one composer still made important contributions to opera: Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)

· He made some improvements on Lully’s concept of tragédie-lyrique, adopting traits from other countries:

· Italian plot ideas, also richer harmony, more chromaticism

· Used more counterpoint (a German trait),

· Choruses are more important to opera (influence of Handel?)

· Rameau was originally a theorist, never really meant to be an opera composer;

· He had a new way of thinking of music theory; his ideas are the basis for modern music theory. He believed music is governed by harmony, not by melody. He stressed this in his theory work Traité de l’harmonie (Treatise on Harmony) 1722

· Rameau sought to derive fundamentals of music from Natural laws. Studied acoustics, established precedent for major triad from overtone series; also recognized identity of chords in inversions. Functional harmony (I-IV-V) is Rameau’s idea

· Controversy arose over his first opera, Hippolyte et Aricie, in 1733.

· Audiences immediately noticed that harmony was more important than melody, and they chose sides: Ramists (Rameau supporters) vs. Lullists (Lully supporters).

· Ramists (including Voltaire) liked innovation; Lullists were conservative and wanted to preserve Lully’s approach