Les Indes Galantes, Les Indes Galantes

Rameau, who was nicknamed Euclid-Orpheus by Voltaire, made his debut on stage quite late, at the age of 52, for the first performance of his opera-ballet Les Indes galantes. This musical form was new then, and it was only the second piece written for the stage by Rameau, a harpsichord prodigy who had published his first compositions when he was 23. His Indes take place in Turkey, Peru and North America. Quite decisively, he had heard the music of a Native American, brought to France in a traveller’s ship. It was so unheard-of that it inspired him. Clément Cogitore’s “Indians” are translated here: movement emerges from a crowd.