Reproduced from a photograph made for this work by special permission.
One of four life-size statues placed in the vestibule of the Opera
House, at the foot of the grand marble staircase.
]
“Hippolyte et Aricie” met with but doubtful success, about which there
was difference of opinion. Accustomed as the public was to the flowing
music of Lully, that of Rameau was considered brusque and his harmonies
rough and dissonant. They were indeed very bold for the time. What
astonished the amateurs and put to rout the imitators of Lully, such as
Colasse, Desmarets, Blamont, was the novelty of the modulation, the
suddenness of the changed chords, the character and style of the
instrumentation. With Rameau, the flutes, hautbois, bassoons, manifested
themselves at intervals, without any interruption of the general theme
of the symphony. Rameau sought to give and gave to each instrument its
own particular force and value, which enhanced the interest without
detracting in any degree from the unity of style of the piece.
At a later date, when he had attained the full measure of his
experience, Rameau certainly produced better work than “Hippolyte et
Aricie.” At the same time this first opera of the great French master is
full of dramatic beauty and attractive conceptions. We may cite, as an
example, the charming chorus of nymphs in the prologue, the graceful
gavotte which was sung: “A l’Amour rendons les armes.” And again, the
fine air sung by Aricie in the first act, the chorus, “Dieux vengeurs,
lancez le tonnerre”; with a purely instrumental page to imitate the
thunder, which certainly does not equal the storm of the pastoral
symphony, but which at the same time is not wanting in effect,
particularly the violin arpeggios. The second act, the scene of which is
laid in the infernal regions, is characterized by a boldness of harmony
and a striking novelty for the period. The two first movements of the
first scene are simply pure Weber. The rest is of the same fantastic
character.
There is no musician, however humble his attainments, who does not know
and admire the trio of the Fates, “Quelle soudaine horreur.” The
succession of chords on the words, “Où cours-tu, malheureux?” are
striking in their expression. This would appear even at the present day
as a happy and wonderfully effective discovery.
“Les Indes Galantes,” an heroic ballet, was the second work that Rameau
gave to the Opéra. He was then fifty years of age. The public, who had
become more accustomed to the musician’s peculiarly characteristic
style, received this work in the most favorable manner. From that time
forth, the master who had experienced such difficulty in obtaining
access to the Opéra, was rewarded with one long series of triumphs. He
reigned in the opinion of the musicians and the habitués of the Académie
de Musique as an omnipotent sovereign of the art. “Les Fêtes d’Hébé,”
“Dardanus,” “Zoroastre,” “Anacréon,” “Platée,” “Les Fêtes de Polymnie,”
“Les Fêtes de l’Hymen et de l’Amour,” are works which bear the impress
of Rameau’s genius. His talent appeared to the most advantage, however,
in “Castor et Pollux,” his dramatic masterpiece, which indeed is a fine
example of theatrical music.
We mentioned above the theoretical works of Rameau, and now propose to
make further reference to them. Rameau’s theory, which threw a flood of
light upon what before his time was darkness and empiricism, is entirely
based upon the eternal law governing the creation of chords by the
resonances of the monochord. Rameau found in these resonances the
_fundamental bass_ of the different chords composed of a succession of
thirds. This discovery of the fundamental bass showed the true nature of
the inversions of chords which before the theoretical exposition of the
great Dijon master had been considered as so many peculiar kinds of
chords.
Rameau had discovered the natural formation of chords, a thing wonderful
in itself and sufficient to make his name immortal; but in thus
establishing the principles of harmony he had not established all its
laws. He left to his didactic successors the work of laying down the
important rules of the attraction of notes for the determination of
chords, as also the rules governing their movement in modulation. It is
thus that we find in Rameau’s work certain hazardous harmonies which are
more due to the non-observance of these laws than offences against good
taste or fancies of the composer’s imagination. We see, indeed, in the
music of this artistic genius successions of fifths, faulty relation of
notes, brusque modulations offensive to the ear, which are nothing more
than faults in writing. Thus he who has been truly called the “Father of
Harmony,” made mistakes in harmony which, even at the present day, in
spite of the great liberty taken by composers of the advanced school
with their successions of modified chords, still remain faults in
musical grammar.
Rameau wrote his last opera, “Les Paladins,” at the age of
seventy-seven. In reading this score we find nothing to indicate any
failing of the vigorous mind of this extraordinary musician, who,
following Lully, was the pioneer in the great field of dramatic music
that Gluck was destined to cover with incomparable power and genius.
[Illustration:
Fac-simile musical manuscript written by Rameau.
Reproduced from original in the Paris Opera Library.
]
This article would be very incomplete were we not to say a few words
concerning the pieces for the harpsichord composed by Rameau, which form
such an important item in the fine work by A. Mereaux, “Les
Clavecinistes,” containing a selection of pieces by these musicians from
1637 to 1790, classed in their chronological order, and revised,
annotated and accented with the variations and ornaments of the period
and in full notation. What pianist of the present day has not delighted
in playing, from amongst the numerous compositions by Rameau for the
harpsichord, his “Musette,” “Tambourin,” “Poule,” “Rappel des Oiseaux,”
“Fanfarinette,” “Egyptienne,” and “Entretiens des Muses,” etc. Few
pianists, however, have succeeded in executing these delightful
inspirations on the instrument for which they were written, and which
gives them their full effect, with all the freshness of idea, color, and
ingenious accompaniment. It is a feast for a musical epicure to hear
music by Couperin, or Frescobaldi, or Scarlatti played by an educated
musician and pianist of taste, in conjunction with music by Rameau
executed upon a well-preserved or newly-manufactured harpsichord. For
the celebrated piano manufactory of Pleyel, Wolff et Cie., of Paris,
yielding to the desire expressed by a few artists and amateurs, has made
for them a limited number of harpsichords which out-rival in a
remarkable manner, both as to quality of sound and the number of pedals,
the finest instrument of the celebrated Taskin.
In 1888, the Paris Society of Musical Composers gave an exclusively
artistic soirée in the Salle Pleyel, the memory of which yet remains. By
the side of magnificent grand pianos, the most noble instruments
produced by this musical establishment, was a harpsichord, which gave
promise of great things. It was not found wanting when put to the test;
for, in the hands of M. Diémer and Mme. Roger-Miclos, two virtuosos
whose reputation is well established, it rendered the music of the
composers who wrote for the harpsichord in a wonderful manner,
particularly the pieces by Rameau.
A statue has been erected to the memory of Rameau in his native town of
Dijon, due to the initiative of a Dijon composer of considerable talent,
M. Poisot, who opened a subscription in order to put on record the
public admiration for this great and illustrious musician of Burgundy.
[Illustration: Oscar Comettant]
[Illustration: