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Rameau: French Enlightenment
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Rameau is a subject heading vocabulary used by the French National Library (http://rameau.bnf.fr/). It has been developped starting from the subject heading repository of the Quebec University, being derived itself from the Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH).
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Menuet en Rondeau is taken from the second volume of Rameau's "Pieces for Clavier." Rameau wrote 65 pieces for harpsichord. He did not break with tradition here. Instead he followed the established French tradition for the keyboard genre. By bringing the melody and bass closer together by an octave this piece fits rather nicely on the guitar.
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The notion of implied dissonances figures prominently in Rameau's early theory of harmonic progression. Existing interpretations suggest that Rameau may have been transferring principles from 17th-century mechanics, or that the notion derives from the continuo practice of adding dissonances to consonant chords in order to enhance their instability. This paper examines the notion of implication within the context of the imaginary, offering an alternative interpretation based on: (a) 17th- and early 18th-century philosophical formulations of the imagination as a potential site for knowledge, one in which the imaginary does not compete against the "real" in terms of verisimilitude; (b) the tendency of French Enlightenment writers in the human sciences to fabricate scenarios where prototypes for understanding are staged (e.g., Rousseau's theories of education and language and Montesquieu's theory of government). Rameau transfers an empirical referent--the chain of seventh chords--to a theoretical register, substituting the reality of this referent with a model. Implied dissonances arise as theoretical representations of the referent, and the referent itself becomes a potential scenario against which actual progressions are measured. With the complicity of the imaginary, Rameau's theoretical scenario opens a space in which ideal conditions for harmonic mobility and continuity appear.
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French Enlightenment