Les Sauvages de Jean-Philippe Rameau

Encontré esta pegadiza melodía escuchando una interpretación de piezas de Rameau al piano por Mordecai Shehori:

http://open.spotify.com/track/76URrRNemyu24OSP7jTSJN

Se trata de una pieza, que como comentan en este rincón de la web se hizo muy popular en la Francia del siglo XVIII:

"In September 1725, two "savages", i.e. Native Americans captured in French-held Louisiana Territory, were exhibited at a fair in Paris. They were about 25, well-built, and in their native dress. They performed three dances, representing Peace, War and Victory: one had the full regalia of a chief, the other was dressed as a simple warrior. Observers found it hard to recognize what was being described by the dances, but then, as one remarked, "perhaps they would have found it impossible to understand us if we had tried to represent the same things to us" (cultural relativism, so early!).

One observer was Jean-Philippe Rameau, who wrote a harpsichord piece a few years later, called Les Sauvages. The piece was published in the Nouvelles Suites of 1728, and re-used in a ballet scene of Les Indes Galantes, as the Dance of the Peace Pipe. The opera-ballet itself was a flop, but the music proved quite popular. In fact, les Sauvages was one of the most popular pieces of French music throughout the 18th century: it was played every year during the free concert given in Paris on the King's Feast Day up to the Revolution.

What I find interesting is how this piece travelled: it actually returned to the New World. Around the middle of the century, in the Carribean island of Dominica, a group of French immigrants were having a party, to which a number of natives [last year's propaganda led me to believe they had all been killed by Columbus, but apparently a few were left] were present. Rameau's dance was played, and immediately roused the enthusiasm of the natives, who started dancing in their own fashion to the tune, and danced themselved to exhaustion. Rameau was informed of his success, which he found the most flattering because it was sincere and pure."

Y me gusta escuchar versiones, versiones, versiones...