I found "Treatise on Harmony - Jean Philippe Rameau at a very reasonable price on Barnes & Noble/online (only the online).

Where as the going price for this paperback is $17.95 and $19.95 at other sites, I purchased 5 copies the other day for under $4.00 a piece (new, not used). I plan to use them with students and as gifts.

I hope this appeals to many who have wanted to know the contents of the treatise.

Betty

Hi Betty,
Your intuitive bargain-hunting acumen might have got the better of you.

Rameau might well be an important milestone in the development of French music ... but when you remember that Johann Sebastian Bach was born two years later than Rameau in 1685 and is regarded as the father of counterpoint and harmony ... the French chappie is not likely to enjoy much limelight with his "Treatise on Harmony"...
but good luck with your bargain 4$ presents.

If Bach had only left us a treatise telling us how to compose like a genius ... but then, of course, we have his glorious music.

Bach and Rameau had rival theories. Rameau is still important today. $4 is a good deal and plenty relevant.

If I remember well the Rameau Treatise on Harmony is the first one seriously written on the subject...isn't it?

In the least, Rameau's work is historically interesting.

Come on chaps ... our naughty pupils can hardly keep their eyes open when Teach strays onto the subject of Bach ... one of my errant 10 year olds (boy gender) referred to the father of counterpoint and harmony as “Mr Plod” ... I wanted to hug him, but thought better of setting an iconoclastic precedent.

If Bach is bottom of the sprog pile ... you can imagine the gnashing of teeth at any thought of dredging up Rameau.

btb....

I'm so surprized by you.

I would have thought that Rameau would have been music to your ears.

Maybe you should buy a copy and see what you are missing?

Better yet - PM me and I'll send you one of mine - free.

I want you to eat your words! Using 2 forks!

Betty (cheerfully of course!)

As it’s your thread Betty ... you must have the last word.

There is no way I’m going to fight Nature ... women will defend the purchase of a BARGAIN with tenacity ... if the others see value in your $4 Rameau, good luck to them ... but knowing my students I can’t see any of them doing a sprightly high-5 cartwheel upon receiving such a dusty tomb.

But then we are from the Dark Continent ... keep smiling.

PS I'm better at eating my hat.

Like watching a train crash in slow motion...

I can't bear to look.

Yet, I can't look away...

"There ain't nothing like a dame!"

I am with Betty on this. She is absolutely correct. In "Basic Principles of the technique of l8th and 19th century Composition," by Allen Irvine McHose, which for many years was the standard text book of many college level theory classes, and is part of the Eastman School of Music Series, the author points out that the importance of Rameaus research into tonality,
"contributes much to our understanding of the significance of the key center." Another contribution of Rameau was his belief (now totally accepted), "that major and minor keys were established by chord progression."
I would suggest that before one dismisses this remarkable work as a "dusty tomb," they at least read it. It is fascinating, and Betty's students will not only enjoy this gift, but will profit from reading it. Gaby Tu

Thanks, gaby tu!

The books came this week, and I was delighted again with my find.

There are many treatises in the classical music world, in all eras, and I am interested in reading them all.

This is the formulative one and the remarkable thing is the date of it and what was known (at least by Rameau) still stands today and far into the future.

You are right, it is not a "dusty tomb".

Betty

Apologies for intruding - but shouldn't that be "tome"?
(Unless btb was making a deliberate pun.)

Thanks for picking up on the spelling of tome Ferdinand ... my WordPerfect didn't gip at the slapdash tomb ... wish it could have been regarded as a deliberate pun ... but there might have been a distant vision of dusty catacombs when penned.

Ferdinand,

You are not intruding. Please feel free to enter the discussion. You'll fit right in here!

Obviously, you caught up with a misspelling gone unnoticed.
You are very word savvy!
Good show!

Betty

Thank you Betty.