Jean-Philippe Rameau

12 September 2014 is the 250th anniversary of Jean-Philippe Rameau’s death. Born in 1683 in Dijon, he was a contemporary of Bach and Handel and one of the most notable figures in Baroque music. As a theorist and scholar of international importance, as well as a brilliant composer, he left an extensive and impressive output which has still not been published in its entirety. This is the starting point for the new Complete Edition Opera Omnia Rameau, which is being published by the Société Jean-Philippe Rameau in collaboration with Bärenreiter-Verlag. The editorial project directed by Sylvie Bouissou takes into account his entire musical output – from the instrumental music to the sacred and secular vocal music and the music-dramatic works. The latter, published in a total of 31 volumes, stand at the centre of his output. The important operas Platée, Dardanus, Castor et Pollux and Hippolyte et Aricie, increasingly performed in recent years, are already available in full scores with complete performance material, but works such as Anacréon, Zais and Nais are also now being rediscovered.  All these activities, representing an exciting conjunction of scholarly reappraisal, publishing commitment and artistic realisation are concentrated on 2014. This marks an important milestone, not only for the continuation of the scholarly edition, but also for the overall reception of Jean-Philippe Rameau as a musician and scholar of monumental importance.