The day that I discovered that Rousseau was a composer was a surprising one for me. I had previously known him only for his philosophical writings.
I have not heard much of his music, like most people, so I can't form a fair personal opinion. However, many music historians have written about him. He learnt music as an adult, in a relatively unstructured way. François-Joseph Fétis, who wrote an important biographical dictionary, described him in rather critical terms. To paraphrase, Fétis said that, even though Rousseau exhibited a clear love of music, he was mediocre as a composer. Grove's Dictionary is a little less critical, stating, "...like all who learn music late in life and in a desultory manner without a master, Rousseau remained to the end a poor reader and an indifferent harmonist, he exercised a great influence on French music." He is known for his idea of instituting a numerical system of music notation. Some of his compositions did indeed make an impression at the time, but not enough to ensure continued popularity. He wrote some theoretical works as well. He evidently worked hard, and was probably quite knowledgable and innovative, but I don't think he was a very well respected composer in his day. Rousseau's writings were criticized by Rameau, and his negative opinion of the quality of French music (versus Italian) did not win him friends.
Given a choice between the two titles, I would put him in the class of dilettante.
I may be proven wrong, but I venture to say the majority of us have never heard one note of music written by Rousseau. I vaguely recall a sample LP that I purchased in the mid-1960s of French Baroque music that had short dance movements by him. The record got destroyed in a flood and I never replaced it by purchasing any CD that contained his music. Wikipedia states that he composed seven operas, but I only find one, Le Devin Du Village, available on CD and it is an older recording that has been transferred to CD.
So, I find that Rousseau is not on the radar of listeners or recording companies and therefore is a dilettante who dabbled in music leaving no major impression on the world of music.
He was a composer not of the highest order but definitely a good one. He wasn't a dilettante but he wasn't mozart. Some of his pieces were used in the suzuki violin books which I found to be enjoyable.
Comments
The day that I discovered that Rousseau was a composer was a surprising one for me. I had previously known him only for his philosophical writings.
I have not heard much of his music, like most people, so I can't form a fair personal opinion. However, many music historians have written about him. He learnt music as an adult, in a relatively unstructured way. François-Joseph Fétis, who wrote an important biographical dictionary, described him in rather critical terms. To paraphrase, Fétis said that, even though Rousseau exhibited a clear love of music, he was mediocre as a composer. Grove's Dictionary is a little less critical, stating, "...like all who learn music late in life and in a desultory manner without a master, Rousseau remained to the end a poor reader and an indifferent harmonist, he exercised a great influence on French music." He is known for his idea of instituting a numerical system of music notation. Some of his compositions did indeed make an impression at the time, but not enough to ensure continued popularity. He wrote some theoretical works as well. He evidently worked hard, and was probably quite knowledgable and innovative, but I don't think he was a very well respected composer in his day. Rousseau's writings were criticized by Rameau, and his negative opinion of the quality of French music (versus Italian) did not win him friends.
Given a choice between the two titles, I would put him in the class of dilettante.
I may be proven wrong, but I venture to say the majority of us have never heard one note of music written by Rousseau. I vaguely recall a sample LP that I purchased in the mid-1960s of French Baroque music that had short dance movements by him. The record got destroyed in a flood and I never replaced it by purchasing any CD that contained his music. Wikipedia states that he composed seven operas, but I only find one, Le Devin Du Village, available on CD and it is an older recording that has been transferred to CD.
So, I find that Rousseau is not on the radar of listeners or recording companies and therefore is a dilettante who dabbled in music leaving no major impression on the world of music.
He was a composer not of the highest order but definitely a good one. He wasn't a dilettante but he wasn't mozart. Some of his pieces were used in the suzuki violin books which I found to be enjoyable.
If you like his music then good.
Gluck was better