Release of 'Sunday Rameau: A Sheet Music Book for Daughters and Sons Who Quit Piano +'

I have been preparing this since last autumn, and the Jean-Philippe Rameau Piano Collection is now complete and available for purchase on Amazon.

It has been about two or three years since I discovered Rameau's harpsichord pieces and started playing them repeatedly. I think I first learned about Rameau from the album 'The New Rameau' by Icelandic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson.

Debussy and Rameau are separated by about 150 years, but both are French composers. Debussy is a highly popular composer in Japan, representing the early 20th century, while Rameau is a famous composer from the 18th-century Baroque era. However, he is not as well-known as his contemporary Bach, and may not be familiar to those outside of music circles.

I myself, including during my childhood when I took piano lessons and even after I resumed playing as an adult, was almost completely unaware of Rameau. Perhaps piano lessons based on method books cover a surprisingly narrow world (at least in Japan).

The joy of playing an instrument, beyond producing sound, listening to it, and sharing it with others, lies in experiencing a diverse world of music with your own hands and body. Even in the world of classical music, there is such a vast, wide field stretching from the past to the present, filled with a treasure trove of works. How gorgeous! I often think so.

I believe Rameau's harpsichord pieces are a collection of masterpieces that shine brightly in the archives of the past—fun, beautiful, light, and full of humor, fitting for the present era.

Moreover, they are not that difficult (if you play them at a tempo that suits you). They are ideal piano pieces: each one is a masterpiece, yet they are not difficult to play.

In recent years, the number of people playing Rameau has been increasing, especially among young pianists who choose their repertoire with a sense of freedom. Perhaps it is Rameau's characteristics—that they are interesting, fun, and appealing to play—that attract them.

Below is the introduction to the songs and the table of contents for 'Sunday Rameau'.

Since I imagined birds chirping and flapping their wings in Rameau's music, bird illustrations, tanka poems, and poems themed around birds are used in the book.
Sunday Rameau: A Sheet Music Book for Daughters and Sons Who Quit Piano +
Amazon On-Demand Publishing: A4 size (210 x 297mm), 30 pages, ¥1,320 (tax included)

I have included short comments on the pieces in the hope that they will provide hints when playing. For example, like this:

*Regarding the production process of this sheet music collection (especially the struggles with proofreading), we are planning to publish an article tomorrow. It was published today (May 8th).