Page "Jean-Philippe Rameau" Paragraph 27

* Pieces of " pure " music ( overtures, ritornelli, music which closes scenes ).

Unlike the highly stereotyped Lullian overture, Rameau's overtures show an extraordinary variety.

Even in his earliest works, where he uses the standard French model, Rameau — the born symphonist and master of orchestration — composes novel and unique pieces.

A few pieces are particularly striking, such as the overture to Zaïs, depicting the chaos before the creation of the universe, that of Pigmalion, suggesting the sculptor's chipping away at the statue with his mallet, or many more conventional depictions of storms and earthquakes, as well perhaps as the imposing final chaconnes of Les Indes galantes or Dardanus.