Rameau - Pièces de Clavecin - 1895

THE DISCOVERED RAMEAU: THE LUXURY EDITION THAT RESTORES THE AUTHENTIC VOICE OF THE FRENCH CLAVICHORD
Magnificently bibliographic and musical edition published in Paris in 1895 by Durand et Fils under the direction of Camille Saint-Saëns, dedicated to Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Pièces de Clavecin. The work represents one of the most important editorial projects in the rediscovery of eighteenth-century French music that occurred in the second half of the nineteenth century. Through direct comparison with the extremely scarce original editions of 1706, 1724 and 1728, Saint-Saëns and Charles Malherbe returned to modern performers one of the supreme monuments of European keyboard literature. The volume is enriched with facsimiles of the original editions, manuscript reproductions and a rich historical and bibliographical apparatus. The copy furthermore belongs to the special Dutch Van Gelder paper edition limited to only twenty-five copies.
MARKET VALUE
The Durand editions curated by Saint-Saëns, dedicated to the great French masters of the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries, are highly valued in the market of musical bibliography. Ordinary copies of the Pièces de Clavecin by Rameau typically command between 100 and 200 euros, while copies from the limited runs on special paper, especially those on numbered and reserved Van Gelder paper, can reach valuations of 400 euros depending on condition, completeness and the presence of all facsimiles.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Binding from the early twentieth century in green half-leather with marbled boards and a typographic label applied to the front board. Internally printed on fine Dutch Van Gelder paper. Preserves facsimiles of the off-text plates of the first Rameau editions. Some physiological foxing on the pages, not compromising legibility of the text or the scores. Spine with some superficial losses to the original binding. In old books with a centuries-long history, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (4); 4nn; 40; 134; 4nn; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Pièces de Clavecin.
Paris, A. Durand et Fils, 1895.
Rameau, Jean-Philippe.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
When this edition saw the light, Rameau was still regarded mainly as an opera composer. His harpsichord works were known only to a few specialists who had access to the extremely rare eighteenth-century original prints. Saint-Saëns’s editorial initiative thus had extraordinary historical importance: it contributed to the rediscovery of the entire French harpsichord school and prepared the ground for the great revival of early music in the twentieth century. The famous pages collected in the volume – Les Sauvages, Les Cyclopes, L’Entretien des Muses, La Poule, L’Égyptienne and many others – now stand as some of the absolute peaks of European keyboard literature, anticipating, in harmonic richness and timbral invention, developments that would influence even Debussy and Ravel.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764) was a French composer, music theorist and organist. Considered one of the greatest musicians of the Baroque era, he revolutionized both musical theater and Western harmonic theory. His operas and his treatises deeply influenced eighteenth-century European music. His harpsichord collections are today recognized as one of the supreme milestones of the French keyboard repertoire.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The 1895 edition is part of the prestigious Durand collection under the supervision of Camille Saint-Saëns and intended for the rediscovery of French classics. The volume reproduces and compares the first original prints of Rameau, accompanying them with critical apparatus and historical notes by Charles Malherbe. The indication "Il a été tiré vingt-cinq exemplaires réservés sur papier de Hollande Van Gelder" testifies to a ultra-luxury limited edition intended for libraries, musicologists and collectors.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Sadie, Stanley (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, entry “Rameau.”
Cuthbert Girdlestone, Jean-Philippe Rameau: His Life and Work.
Graham Sadler, The Rameau Compendium.
RISM – Répertoire International des Sources Musicales, records of Rameau’s original editions.
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Catalogue Général, Pièces de Clavecin.
WorldCat, Pièces de Clavecin, Durand, 1895.
Devriès & Lesure, Dictionnaire des éditeurs de musique français.
Charles Malherbe, Bibliographic Commentary, in the 1895 Durand edition.
ICCU / OPAC SBN, copies preserved in Italian libraries.
Christophe Rousset, Rameau et le clavecin français.