Born: Dijon- September 25, 1683
Died: Dijon- September 12, 1764
Rameau was one of the first important French Composers of Opera. He is as well one of the most important music theorists in the Baroque Era. In addition to his operatic works, he composed many other vocal works as well as instrumental works for particularly the harpsichord. His work was done alongside Francois Couperin. One doesn't generally think about Rameau without Couperin or the other major French Composers of the Baroque Era.
Going back to the point about being a music theorist, he published his "Treatise On Harmony" in 1722. It was that research which made him well known amongst people of the time as well as musicians of today. It was around that time when Rameau considered a start to writing opera in his career.
Rameau's music is considered elegant and beautiful now as it was back then and people expected his work to match his personality. He had a much warmer and complex style of music for the era compared to some of his contemporaries which can be easily heard in his music. However, history states that he was a pretty bland person when he wasn't engrossed in his music having a complete lack of a personality. Diderot, a French satirist of the time even wrote a novel about Rameau called: Le Neveu de Rameau.
As time passed, Rameau's productivity slowed down because of aging and illness. He managed to write out a few more works before he died in 1764.
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