Rameau's puzzlingly titled Pièces de clavecin en concerts are in a genre unto themselves. Written for harpsichord with accompanying instruments (several configurations of strings or flute are possible), they perhaps represented a grudging concession by the great French master to the rising vogue for Italian music; he was willing to write for strings and keyboard, but not to go so far as writing trio sonatas, and he grouped his little character pieces into sets of three or four that roughly corresponded to the movements of ...
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Rameau's puzzlingly titled Pièces de clavecin en concerts are in a genre unto themselves. Written for harpsichord with accompanying instruments (several configurations of strings or flute are possible), they perhaps represented a grudging concession by the great French master to the rising vogue for Italian music; he was willing to write for strings and keyboard, but not to go so far as writing trio sonatas, and he grouped his little character pieces into sets of three or four that roughly corresponded to the movements of an Italian sonata. By the standards of Rameau, who could be as fearsomely intellectual as Bach when the mood struck him, these are light works. In their extramusical references, however, these works are completely French, with many of the individual movements serving as descriptions in music of individuals in Rameau's circle. It's not always known who they were; nor is the referential framework always clear at a distance of almost three centuries. The title of the movement "La...
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