Tuesday 19 October 2010
Tune of the Day: Tambourin
by Jean-Philippe Rameau
A tambourin (literally “small drum” in French) is a piece of music that imitates a drum. French composer Jean-Philippe Rameau wrote many of them as parts of his operas. The most famous one is the Tambourin in E Minor from his second collection of pieces for the harpsichord, titled Pièces de clavessin (1724), which also appears in his 1739 opera Les fêtes d'Hébé. With its driving melody full of trills and accents, this piece is unforgettable. In order to make it playable in its entirety on the flute, the tune was transposed to G minor.