by Andrew Gillett | 23 Jan 2026 | blog
Wandering minstrels, or more specifically wandering violinists, form the thread that weaves its way through the works that we are playing by Rameau, Kreisler and Schumann. Very little is known about Jean-Philippe Rameau’s early years but we do know that he was born in Dijon in 1683, and worked as a violinist in travelling companies before moving to Paris, then returned to Dijon as organist of the main church there. Maybe he had been missing the mustard. He then took up similar posts in Lyon and Clermont-Ferrand before returning to Paris in 1722. It was at Clermont-Ferrand that he wrote his ground breaking Treatise on Harmony, which became the principle text book on musical theory in Europe for many many years. He took a scientific approach, informed by an understanding of nature’s patterns. (Debussy was the main rebel who parted from Rameau’s principles in the late 1800s, ushering in a new age.) Despite his didactic leanings and his reputation throughout Europe as “The Isaac Newton of Music”, he wasn’t a fluent speaker and his handwriting was difficult to read. (He had been taught how to play harpsichord before learning to read or write.) But his music says it all. For him, the primary purpose of music was to express, please the ear and move the passions and he certainly knew how to convey all of this. It is not surprising that Rameau threw himself avidly into the world of baroque opera and it is operas that he is principally known for. Castor and Pollux – yes, an opera, not a Victorian remedy for indigestion – was first performed in...
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