Jean-Philippe RameauComplete Works for Solo Keyboard (Dover Classical Piano Music)

How revolutionary Rameau is. Surely he was writing music without any kind of agenda and so his ideas shine without adulteration. This edition of his complete works for keyboard is a joy to own. If I could only have one book of music this would be it. I say this as a pianist. This is important because if I were to play this music on a harpsichord it would be unsatisfying and almost incorrect. It is clearly edited with the piano and it's sustaining abilities in mind. Saint-Saens edited this music and has romantic influence in his editing. I don't think the purist would like this edition very much. The ornamentation is handled with much liberty but only to more suit the piano. If you're a musician who plays everything and thinks you have heard it all you're in for a surprise when you play this music. Just when you think Rameau has started to settle into a typical, lifeless, established baroque styling of a motif he comes out of nowhere with such shocking revelation that you aren't sure what century the music came out of exactly; questioning if you're actually playing a French baroque composer or Scarlatti or Beethoven or Bach or some neo-baroque composer. It is best to not assign any labels to this music and just play it. It will speak directly to your musicality and emotional sense and provide a great deal of joy and satisfaction. You will wonder why you haven't been playing this music sooner or why no one is talking about it. My recommendation is when you first get this music, play the Sarabande on pg. 66 first. Those arpeggios are to die for and it speaks for the taste of the entire book, not to mention those brave and lush harmonies. You will instantly be hooked. Claude Debussy said "Rameau is the greatest french composer ever to live" and I agree. Rameau's music is all gold, no filler. You need to own this book.

Beautiful music and an historical feast for the ears. But the music appears to be presented as graphics images. One image corresponding with each page of sheet music. The problem is that it displays a full page in each e-reader page turn and these, then, are very SMALL compared to a normal sheet music presentation. For best results, I need to put the device into portrait disposition. But even then, it's quite a struggle to read many of the notes, especially the accidentals applied to appogiaturas. These are just about impossible to see. I've never used reading glasses before. But with the purchase of this book, I had to go out and buy a pair. Only with the reading glasses am I able to see that the accidental at top of 2nd page is in fact a 'natural' mark.

I checked an earlier edition of this sheet music out of the library and loved it so much I ordered it here from Amazon. Music is still great, but unfortunately the paper is too thin. It surely will wear out with heavy use. Perhaps all sheet music is like this now; I don't buy enough to judge. But I am disappointed. Maybe I should have "lost" the library copy and paid for them to replace it with this.

Arrived on time and in excellent condition.

Beautiful book of composer Rameau. Hard to play but great collection.

wonderful book

I would not call Rameau a great composer, because I apply that title only to a composer who can be profound and melodious at the same time. The dance partitas are profound, but a first-time listener could not make heads or tails out of them. Most of the other pieces are melodious. For example, there is the celebrated Tambourin (pp. 32-33). However, the more melodious pieces tend to fall quickly into the 4-measure scheme and the cookie cutter instrumental forms.But I'm not snobbish. These compositions are good enough for me, and I recommend this book to you.Most of the pieces are easy enough to sightread. There are, however, some difficult passages, most of which involve hand-crossing. A notable example is "The Three Hands" on pages 67-71. On page 48, there is a passage which requires playing a trill and a countermelody with the same hand.I played through the book in 4 1/2 hours. See how your keyboard velocity compares with mine.I especially liked the a minor gavotte (pp. 76-80). See how your tastes compare with mine.The pieces of doubtful authenticity (pp. 114-134) seemed authentic to me, but I don't know very much about French baroque music. See how your judgment compares with mine.

This has all the Rameau keyboard works you could ever want. Good binding, good print. Over all, very good book.

This is the Saint-Saens edition published by Durand in 1895. Unfortunately, Saint-Saens views this music from a "pianistic" point of view and has, regrettably, removed a large number of ornaments which are essential to French harpsichord and other music of this period. Although this is a usable edition, it is not one I would recommend for serious study.

I really enjoy the music of Rameau and this book is a delight for any pianist of intermediate to advanced level.

The works are not labeled with RCT catalogue numbers but a simple Wikipedia will fix it, I’ve uploaded my labels, see photos. This work does not include an ornament guide. It does include a brief French music terms gloss. This work is incomplete. The Second last section, are excerpts from concert pieces. Overall, I’m happy with this purchase considering the price.

Por un precio muy, muy atractivo, Dover ofrece un recopilatorio con la integral de la obra de Jean-Philippe Rameau para clave.Como es habitual, el trabajo de edición no es inédito, ya que se trata en este caso de la obra "Pièces de Clavecin", publicado en 1895 por A. Durand et Fils, pero el editor fue Camille Saint-Saëns, lo que da cierta garantía. De hecho, incluso se puede comparar una imágen del manuscrito de "La Dauphine" con el trabajo de transcripción. También se incluyen como apéndice las piezas antiguamente atribuídas a Rameau, aunque ya no lo estén. En el índice se señala este detalle importante, pero no se indica a quién(es) se atribuyen en la actualidad.Por su riqueza compositiva y dificultad técnica estas obras proporcionarán a los pacientes muchas horas de estudio y satisfacción.

Do not hesitate to purchase this if you are after anything by Rameau - this does indeed appear to be the complete works, we'll laid out, spaced nicely, and the string binding means with a bit of effort it will lay flat. And of course the pieces are the most beautiful harpsichord pieces ever.