Composer
Jean Rousseau
1712–1778
1 work in the index
The famous philosopher and citizen of Geneva, Jean Jacques Rousseau, was a musician and musical scholar of some importance.
When he established himself in Paris in the 1740s, Rousseau first made his living as a copier of music, and later built a name from writing on musical subjects.
Here is a bit of the writing: âThe languorous quality of our French language makes it inflexible to our voices and a funeral tone perpetually reigns in our Operaâ¦.Nothing is so inert, so lazy, or so languorous as these beautiful solos that everyone admires while yawning.â
When one builds a name in this way, life wonât always be a pleasant. At one point, musicians affiliated with the Paris Opera hanged Rousseau in effigy.
He was, though, perfectly willing to practice the art that his theories condemned. He composed a French language opera: Les Muses Galantes (The Gallant Muses) in 1745 and a French language operetta, Le Devin du Village (The Village Soothsayer) in 1752. The former was a commercial failure, the latter a success.
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