Hidden in Plain Sight: Musical Treasures in the Penn Library Curated by Marjorie Hassen Otto E. Albrecht Music Library University of Pennsylvania

Landmarks of Music Theory

Table of Contents Introduction Manuscript Collections: Institutions Manuscript Collections: Individuals Sheet Music Images Conducting Scores Music Manuscripts: 15th-18th Centuries Music Manuscripts: 19th-20th Centuries

Jean Philippe Rameau, 1683-1764
Traité de l'harmonie reduite à ses principes naturels
Paris, 1722
Music 781.3 R145

The Traité de l'harmonie is the first and most influential of the composer's theoretical writings, in which an empirical methodology undergirds the attempt to understand music as governed by harmonic properties. In this work Rameau argues that harmony was the fundamental factor involved in the achievement of coherent musical expression.