The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Rameau, Jean Philippe

RAMEAU, Jean Philippe, a French composer, born in Dijon, Oct. 25, 1683, died in Paris, Sept. 12, 1764. He was the son of an organist, and was educated for the bar, but at the age of 18 went to Italy as a violinist. He returned to Paris in 1717, and was organist in several churches. He composed anthems, cantatas, and pieces for the organ and the harpsichord, published a Traité de l'harmonie (1722) and Nouveau système de musique théorique (1726), and composed the music for several of Piron's and Voltaire's comedies and other pieces, the best being that to Pellegrin's Hippolyte et Aricie (1733). His numerous operas and theoretical writings are now obsolete.