Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1784), “Les Sauvages” from Les Indes Galantes (1735)

Rameau was a very influential composer, music theorist, and thinker of the Baroque period. His theories about fundamental bass are at the basis of modern harmonic theory. Les Indes Galantes is an opera-ballet, an unusual combination of dance and singing. Each of the four acts tells a story set among a different group of indigenous peoples. The fourth and final act, from which this excerpt is drawn, is devoted to a story of love among the natives of the Americas.