Deuxième livre de pièces de clavecin
Rameau was forty and had definitively returned to Paris when his Deuxième livre de pièces de clavecin (Second book of harpsichord pieces) was published, along with its long preface, in 1724. The Suite in E opens with an Allemande whose relaxed tempo and highly developed theme resemble Couperin’s writing in his 17ème Ordre. The Courante contains a plethora of ornaments and, like the Courante in the Premier livre, is written in a dotted 3/2 rhythm. Two Gigues in rondeau form replace the Sarabande. The first of these is based on the French song “Au bon roi Dagobert”, while the second creates a pastoral atmosphere and contains a variety of couplets. The polyphonic “Le Rappel des Oiseaux” plays on staggered syncopations to imitate a flock of twittering birds. The two Rigaudons that follow were also inspired by popular songs. In the first, a rapid imitative theme is heard. The second and its double, with their unabashedly accented harmonies, are still more lively. They are followed by a variation in which the same melodic line is heard in the left hand, while the right plays complex rhythms. A pastoral atmosphere again predominates in the Musette, written in rondeau form with a refrain and three couplets, as were the Rigaudons. Rameau pointed out in the preface that this piece could be transposed for the gamba. The Tambourin, one of Rameau’s most popular works and also a rondeau, is an admirable complement to the Musette; both pieces were reused in the opera Les Fêtes d’Hébé. “La Villageoise” is a two-part rondeau. The first part, written in a light, ornamented style, resembles Couperin’s music, while the second is a brilliant, virtuoso piece.
The Suite in D begins with a rondeau entitled “Les Tendres Plaintes”, whose melancholy effect is produced by detaching the third beat from the slurred left hand notes. Rameau orchestrated this piece for his opera Zoroastre, albeit with different melodic ornamentation. “Les Niais de Solonge”, based on a popular rondeau, uses the same theme in both the initial statement and the couplets, and has a deliberately heavy sound. The piece, which Rameau orchestrated for Dardanus, is followed by two striking variations. In the first, a triplet theme played by the right hand is heard over steady eighth notes in the left hand. The second variation is quite brilliant, and plays on the opposition between the sixteenth notes in the left hand and the descending eighth notes (played by both hands) which follow. “La Follette” is a lively rondeau written in the same spirit. Its gigue rhythm is interrupted by long trills that deliberately upset the piece’s forward motion. In “Les Fêtes d’Hébé” the couplets have a surprising effect as compared to the innocent-sounding refrain. “Le Tourbillon” is a descriptive rondeau which depicts, as Rameau put it, “dust devils stirred up by high winds”. The piece again has an innocent-sounding refrain, the triple time rhythm having an accented first beat. Rameau was influenced by Couperin in his second book of harpsichord pieces, and progressively abandoned the dance suite in favour of descriptive or character pieces. His style became increasingly supple (the numerous rondeaux), and the works are technically more demanding (batteries, sixteenth-note triplets).
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