Cover; Music and the French Enlightenment; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Acknowledgements; Prologue: Why a New Edition; List of Abbreviations; 1. Introduction; 2. Rameau and Rousseau Launch the Debate; 3. Music as Expressive Art: Rameau versus Rousseau on Expressive Means and Content; 4. Music as Science: The Contribution of d'Alembert; 5. Music as Art and Science: Changing Conceptualizations by Diderot, 1748-1760; 6. Music as Art and Science: Changing Conceptualizations by Diderot, 1761-1771; Epilogue; Key Passages in Translation; Appendix to Chapter 2; Appendix to Chapter 3
Appendix to Chapter 4Appendix to Chapter 5; Appendix to Chapter 6; Select Bibliography; Index
Summary
Around the middle of the eighteenth century, the leading figures of the French Enlightenment engaged in a philosophical debate about the nature of music, prompted by the controversial views of the composer-theorist Jean-Philippe Rameau. Their dialogue was one of extraordinary depth and richness and dealt with some of the most fundamental issues of the French Enlightenment. In the newly revised edition of Music and the French Enlightenment, Cynthia Verba updates this fascinating story with the prolific scholarship that has emerged since the book was first published
