art. the harmony between rousseau musical theory an politic

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The Harmony between Rousseau's Musical Theory and His PhilosophyAuthor(s): John T. ScottSource: Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 59, No. 2 (Apr., 1998), pp. 287-308Published by: University of Pennsylvania PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3653977 .

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T h e Harmony Between Rousseau'sM u s ic a l T h e o r y a n d h i s Philosophy

JohnT.Scott

Rousseau is best knownas the authorof philosophicworks,buthe was amusician andmusicaltheoristbeforehe burstontotheEuropeaniterary cenewith his First Discourse. While he earnedcelebrity as an anti-philosophi-cal philosopher, he continued to consider music as his primaryvocationand avocation throughouthis life. Rousseau testifies to the harmony be-tween his musical work and his philosophy in his Dialogues, where heexplains that his musical writings and compositions are animated by thesame feelings and ideas as all of his works-that they too are based on theprinciple of his "system" that "man is good although men are wicked."'His maturemusical theory not only incorporateshis philosophy of humannatureand developmentbut also extends it throughan examinationof therole of the passions in human communication.Rousseau's musical theoryis an important,yet often overlooked, facet of his philosophy.TherelationshipbetweenRousseau'smusicaltheoryandhisphilosophyasa whole has seldom been extensively analyzed.2His only widely knownwrit-ing relatingto music is the Essay on the Originof Languages,but even thatwork has in generalnot received a full accountingbecause it has rarelybeeninterpleted n light of his othermusical writings.The Essay emergedout ofboththe SecondDiscourse andthe contemporaneousmusicalpolemics of themid-1750s. The simultaneouselaborationof his "system"andhis continuedwork on music was the context in which Rousseau'smaturemusical theorydeveloped.Afteran accountof Rousseau'spre-systematicmusicalwritingsand

I would like to thankChristopherKelly for his commentsand suggestions.'Rousseau,Rousseau:JudgeofJean-Jacques:Dialogues, TheCollectedWritings fRous-seau (hereafterCW) (5 vols. to date; Hanover,1990-),I, 22-23. See also "Lettrea Beaumont,"Oeuvrescompletes(hereafterOC) (5 vols.; Paris,1959-95), IV,933-36.2 See RobertWokler,Rousseau on Society,Politics,Music and Language:An HistoricalInterpretation f His Early Writings London, 1987),chap.IV. See also MichaelO'Dea,Jean-

JacquesRousseau:Music, Illusion and Desire (New York,1995).287

Copyright998byJournalf theHistoryf Ideas, nc.

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John T.Scotta discussionof the developmentof his musicaltheory,I will turnto anexaminationf theEssay.Finally, will concludeby discussingRousseau'snovelaesthetic heoryandits impact.

Rousseau's resystematicMusicalWritings"Jean-Jacquesasborn ormusic."3 ousseau'smusicalwritingsmightbe characterizedshisattempto account orhis native oveformusic.InhisConfessions e speaksof "the asteorrather assion or music"hathe hadalmost rombirthandsaysthat twas while n Italy,afterrunningway romGeneva tagesixteen, hathispassionbegan o declaretself.4Rousseaun-creasinglyndulged islove formusicover henextseveral ears,althoughixmonthsn a choirschoolatabout heageof seventeenwas almost heonlyformalmusical nstructione received.He acquired ndpainstakingly as-teredRameau'sTreatise n Harmony, nd studiednformallywitha youngorganistwithItalianraining, ecallinghowhe compared is friend's"prin-ciples"o thoseof"myRameau."5t least nretrospect,hen,Rousseau otedthecontrast etweenFrench ndItalianmusic hatwould aterbringhimintoconflictwithhisyouthfulhero.Rousseau oon tookuptheprofession f a musicteacher ndcopyist,atrade o whichhe wouldreturn fterabandoninghilosophy.Copyingmusicacquaintedimwith thedifficultyof theordinaryisualsystemof notatingmusic,andhetherefore evisedanumericalystem. twaswithhissystemofnotationndaplay,Narcisse,hatRousseau et out orParisn 1741.Hegainedanaudienceorhis "PlanRegarding ewSigns orMusic"1742)attheAcad-emyof Sciences,andwhile it was favorablyeceived,hereport f a selectcommitteeoncludedhathissystemwasnotentirely ewandwas esspracti-calinmostrespectshan heordinaryystem.6 ousseauwasnonethelesson-vincedof his system'sutilityandpublishedt as the Dissertationn ModernMusic 1743).Thiswork ontains digressionnmusical xpression hereheexplainshatwe arenot"touched"y sounds hemselves utbythe harmonicrelationshipsheyhaveamonghem.Hesendshis readeroRameau's ritings,wherehe sourceof musical xpressions "sufficientlyxplained."7n hisma-ture musicalwritingsRousseauexpoundsa theory explicitly opposedtoRameau'sheoryof musical xpression.Severalncidentsn thenextdecadebefore hediscovery f his"system"seem to have contributedo Rousseau'ssubsequentbreakwith Rameau.3Rousseau,Dialogues, CW,I, 164.4 Rousseau,Confessions,CW,V, 10, 60. See also MauriceCranston,Jean-Jacques:The

EarlyLifeand Work f Jean-JacquesRousseau, 1712-1754 (New York, 1982), 55-56.5Rousseau,Confessions,CW, V, 98-103, 174-76, 155.6 See Rousseau,Confessions,CW,V, 227-28, 235-41.7 Rousseau,Dissertationsur la musiquemodeme, OC,V, 206.

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Rousseau 's Musical Theory and his PhilosophyFirst,his 1743-44sojournn Veniceas secretaryo theFrenchambassadorreacquaintedimwith Italianmusic."FromParisI hadbroughthe preju-dice theyhavein thatcountryagainst talianmusic,butfromnature hadalso received hatsensitivityof discriminationgainstwhichprejudices onotprevail.SoonI had for thatmusicthepassionwhich t inspiresn any-one madeto judgeit."8The other wo incidentsnvolved he musicianhimself.AfterreturningfromVenice,Rousseaucompletedhis operaLes Musesgalantes, whichwas performedn September1745 at the householdof La Popliniere,heemployerof the jealous Rameau.RameauaccusedRousseauof havingplagiarizedhe work;andwhile Rousseauadmittedhathis work was un-even,he insistedon his authorship.9e laterattributedts shortcomingsohis still Gallictastes:"Itooknoise forharmony,he marvelousor the in-teresting,and songs for an Opera."10 decadelater he wouldmakethesamechargesagainstFrenchmusic.Finally,around hatsametime,Rous-seauwas offered the task of adaptinga dramaby Voltaire o a scorebyRameau,butRameaunterferedwith his workand thenwithdrewromtheproject,and Rousseauwas not creditedor compensatedor his laboronLes Fetes de Ramire (1745). His relations with Rameau had soured, andhisrelationship ithVoltairewouldendure nlyfora fewyears.Rousseau'sattackon enlightenmentn the First Discoursesurelyowedmuch to hisanimusagainst wo of its leadingexemplars.Rousseau'smusical astesremainedargelyFrench uringhemid-1740s,as is confirmed otonlybyhislaterassessment fLesMuses alantesbutalsoina letter rom heperiodnwhichhecompares rench ndItalian pera.Hetreats hetwo musicsas differentnkind, inding achstrongnits owngenrebutFrenchmusicgenerallymoreeffective.Hespeaks f Italianmusicasbeing"universal"ecauset is notpeculiarlyiedtothe Italiananguageacommonview of thetime),andalthough e remarkshe closerelationshipetweenheFrenchanguageandmusic,he takesthisaffinity o be a point n its favor,whereastturns ut o be thebasis orhiscondemnationfFrenchmusicabouta decade ater."Rousseau's re-systematicritings nmusic herefore o not includem-portantlements f his matureheoryorevenadvance rgumentshatcontra-dict t. His lastpre-systematicusicalwork, he articles ewrote ortheEncy-clopedia, s moredifficult o categorize.He was offered he Encyclopedia

8 Rousseau,Confessions,CW,V, 263-64.9Rousseau,Confessions,CW,V, 279-81.10Rousseau,"Avertissement"o Les Musesgalantes, OC, II, 1052." Rousseau,Lettresur l'opera italienetfranfais, OC, V,249-57. From internalevidencethe editors of the Pleiadeeditiondate the letterbetween December 1744 andSeptember1745,against the conjectureby the first to printthe letter,Albert Jansen,of around 1750 (Jean-Jacques Rousseauals Musiker[Berlin, 1884], 455-63).

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articlesby his friendDiderot n late 1748,andhe revealspartof his inspi-ration n a letter:"Iam outto get backatpeoplewhohave doneme harm,andbile givesme strength;t evengivesme wit andknowledge."'2He ap-pearsto referto Rameau, ndwhilehe hadcertainly ufferedhumiliationat the musician'shands,Rousseau'sarticlesgenerallyfollowhis theoriesand treat him with respect.However,their tone may be due in parttod'Alembert,who seemsto haveintervenedo removeremarksromRous-seau's drafts hatbetrayed pite.'3The Encyclopedistswereeagerto arro-gate some of Rameau'sprestigeto themselves; n the "Preliminary is-course" o theirproject,d'Alembert elebratesRameauas an "artist-phi-losopher"who has madea science of music.14Nonetheless,beneathRousseau's espectfulreatment f Rameauhereis pointedcriticism.For nstance,n the articleon accompanimentousseaupraises he musicianorhaving"revealedor us the truefoundationsf anart in whicheverything ppeared rbitrary";ut thenhe criticizesRameaufor adheringoo literally o his "principles"y filling outall his chords.'5Rousseau'scriticismof Rameau'soverly"harmonic"musicpointsto hisimpendingpolemicwith him over the priorityof melodyandharmony.The only close studentof Rousseau'sEncyclopediaarticlescharacterizesthe article on accompaniments "a covert attackon Frenchmusicgener-ally and on Rameau n particular s the leadingexponentof the Frenchstyle,"andconcludesthatRousseau'sEncyclopediaarticlesrevealsomeof the essentialelementsof his maturemusicalthought.'6However,whileRousseau'sarticlesdo foreshadow ertainconcernsof his maturemusicaltheory, heydo notcontainanyclearsignsof the theoryof therelationshipbetween anguageandmelodyas the director imitativeexpressionof thepassions,the central deaof his maturemusicalwritings.The Encyclope-dia articlesantedateRousseau'sdiscoveryof his "system"andthus hismaturemusicaltheory.

12 Rousseau to Mmede Warens,27 January1749, in Correspondance omplete(hereafterCC),ed. R. A. Leigh(50 vols.; Geneva,1965-),II, 132-33. For a listingof Rousseau'sarticles ntheEncyclopedia,see AlfredRichardOliver,TheEncyclopedistsas CriticsofMusic (NewYork,1947),AppendixA.13See Rousseauto d'Alembert,26 June 1751, CC, II, 159-62.14 Jean Le Rond d'Alembert,PreliminaryDiscourse to the Encyclopediaof Diderot, tr.RichardN. Schwab(Indianapolis,1963), 100-101;and see ThomasChristensen,RameauandMusical Thought n the EnlightenmentCambridge,1993), 7-11.1sRousseau,"Accompagnement"Encyclopediaversion), OC, V, 1745, 1749.16 O'Dea, Music,Illusion and Desire, 10, 16.

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Rousseau's Musical Theory and his PhilosophyRousseau's"System"andthe Development f his MusicalTheoryBy thetime hefirstvolumeof theEncyclopediappearednJuly1751,arevolution adoccurredn Rousseau'shought.He haddiscovered is "sys-

tem."Soon aftercompletinghis Encyclopedia rticles,he cameuponthequestion ora prizeessaycompetition ponsored ytheAcademyof Dijon:"Atthe momentof thatreadingI saw anotheruniverseandI becamean-otherman."'7The "illumination f Vincennes"was the revelationof the"system"of the naturalgoodnessof man. The first fruitof Rousseau'sphilosophical ision,the FirstDiscourse,madehima celebrity hroughoutEurope.D'Alembert's Preliminaryiscourse" othproclaimsRousseau'sparticipationn the Enlightenmentrojectas the chief contributorn mu-sic and noteshis jeremiadagainst he progressof the sciencesandarts.'8Rousseau's ubsequent laborationf his "system" evealed hatthe FirstDiscourse was morethana cleverparadox,and led to his breakwith thephilosophes.Rousseauirstdevelopedhis maturemusical heory hortlyafter heap-pearance f hisFirstDiscourse n hiscontributionso the heateddispute verthe relativemeritsof French nd Italianmusicknownasthe"Quarrelf theBouffons." hebattle rupted n 1August1752,with hesuccessful resenta-tioninParisof Pergolesi's perabuffa,LaServapadrona, ya troupe f Ital-ianplayers.Thecontinuinguccessof the"Bouffonists"asperceived sanaffront o theFrenchtyleandreopened rgumentshatdatedback iftyyearsand ndeedalmost o thebirthof French pera. nonecampwere hepartisansof theItalian tyle, ncludingRousseau ndthephilosophes, nd nthe otherthedefenders f thetraditionalrench pera.Rousseau escribeshebattleasonepitting henobilityandwealthyagainsthepopulace nd heirallies,andclaims hathisownmajornterventionnthedispute ivertedhenationromapolitical evolutiony uniting veryone gainsthimself.'9TheLetter nFrenchMusic,Rousseau'smajor ontributionothe"Quar-rel," howsmostclearlyheadvancenhismusicalheory, ut wo otherworkspublished hortly efore heLetter xhibithefirst eformulationsfhistheory.Thefirstworkwas a contributiono a pamphletwarregardingherevivalofDestouches'syric ragedyOmphalehat ookplace ustpriorothebattle vernationalmusicsandpreparedt. In his anonymousLetter o GrimmApril

17Rousseau,Confessions, W,V,294;seealso Rousseauo M. deMalesherbes,2Janu-ary1762,CW,V.575.18 D'Alembert, reliminary iscourse,133,103-4.19See Rousseau,Confessions,CW,V,322.Foraccounts f the"Quarrel,"ee LouisetteReichenberg, ontribution l'histoirede la "QuerelleesBouffons"Philadelphia,937);Oliver,Encyclopedistss Criticsof Music,chap.VII;andsee Cranston,ean-Jacques,84;Wokler, Rousseaun Rameau ndRevolution,"tudiesn theEighteenth entury, (1978),251-83.

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John T.Scott1752) Rousseaupressesthe criticismof Frenchoperabegun by Grimm,andsupports talianmusiccorrespondingly.ousseaunot only anticipatestheside he wouldtake n theLetteron FrenchMusicbutmoresignificantlyhintsat the centerpieceof his maturemusicaltheory, he doctrineof theunityof melody,when he criticizes Rameau'sover-wroughtccompani-mentsandlearnedharmonies ndspeaksof the "verywise andverydesir-ableunity"of dramatic ndmelodiccharacterhat shouldreign n a musi-cal work.20He thereby akesa stepbeyondthe Encyclopedia articlesbyassociatinghis criticismsof Rameauwith a new counter-doctrinef thepriorityof melody.He firstput his doctrineof the unityof melodyintopracticen theotherworkantedatinghe LetteronFrenchMusic,his trium-phantcomic operaLe Devin du village. He composedthe work in thespringof 1752andhad it rehearsedn June 1752 at Fontainebleau,henperformedherewithgreatsuccessin Octoberandlaterat the ParisOperain March 1753.21In his Dialogues, at the point when he states that hisoperaexhibitsthe sameideas and"feelings"as all his works,Rousseauattributes ts success to the "perfectaccordbetweenthe words and themusic"and to its "hiddenprinciple"-the "unityof melody."22ousseaudeveloped that "principle" n the Letter on French Music.23The"Quarrelf the Bouffons" eemedto be drawingo a close whenRousseau's etter n FrenchMusicappearedn November 753. Hestatesnthe"Notice" hathe wrote t abouta yearbefore.24) ebegins heLetterbysuggestinghatoneexamine otwhether renchmusic s excellent utwhetherthere s evena Frenchmusicat all. His analysis n the Letterconcernsherelationshipfmusic olanguage.

Harmony,avingtsprinciplennature,s thesame orallnations,r f ithas somevariationsheyare ntroducedythose nthemelody;hus, tis frommelodyalone hat heparticularharacterf a nationalmusicmustbederived; ll themore oas,itscharactereingproducedrinci-pallybythelanguage,ongstrictly peakinghouldbeaffectedby itsgreatest nfluence.25

20 Rousseau,Lettrea M Grimmau sujetdes remarquesajouteesa sa lettresur Omphale,OC, V, 273.21 See Rousseau,Confessions,CW,V, 313-22. For theperformancehistoryof the opera,see CynthiaVerba,Music and theFrenchEnlightenment:Reconstruction f a Dialogue, 1750-1764 (Cambridge,1993), 11 n; JamesMiller,Rousseau:Dreamerof Democracy(New Haven,1984), 138;Eve Kisch, "Rameauand Rousseau,"Music and Letters,22 (1941), 97-114.22 Rousseau,Dialogues, CW,I, 19-20, 160-63.23 See Wokler,"Rousseauon Rameauand Revolution,"256, 259-60.24Rousseau,Lettre ur la musiquefranVaise,OC, V, 289.25 Ibid., 292.

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Rousseau's Musical Theoryand his PhilosophyHe imaginesa language otallyunsuited or melodious ong,andthat an-guageturnsoutto be French. norder o prove he inaptness f theFrenchlanguage ormusic,he examinesa famedrecitativeromLully'sArmide.As in so manyof his works,Rousseau's onclusionwas foreshadowednthe questionhe posedat the outset:

I believe I have shownthat thereis neithermeternormelodyinFrenchmusic, becausethe languageis not susceptibleto them;thatFrench ong is buta continualbarking, nbearableo anyearnotpreparedor it....FromwhichI concludehat heFrenchdo notat all havea music andcannothaveany;or that if evertheyhaveany,it will be so muchthe worseforthem.26Thealmostentirely riticalapproachf the Letter nFrenchMusiccon-ceals heconstructiveheory nwhichRousseau's riticisms based.Heelabo-rates hat heory n his laterworks,butit canbe glimpsedwithin he Letterwhenhisargumentboutherelationshipetweenmusic nd anguagesbroughttogetherwithhisdigression nthe"unity f melody."Rousseauuggestshelink when he claims that,basedon the contraryassumptionof a musicsuited o a language,he wouldbe able to deduceall the qualitiesof a gen-uinemusic,"onemadeto move,to imitate, o please,and to conveyto theheart he sweetestimpressions f harmonyand of song."7The sourceofmusicalexpression s the imitationof the passionsconveyed hroughhemelody,andthe "unityof melody" s thereforehe key to a trulyexpres-sive music.Thedoctrineof the"unityof melody"alsopointsto thephilo-sophicalunderpinning f Rousseau'sexamination f nationalmusics inthe Letter.ForRousseau,music is a semanticsystem,a languageof thepassionscommunicatedhroughhe inflectionsof the melody.Musicandlanguageare culturalphenomena,and differencesbetweenculturesandthe formsof expressionthatbelongto them are basedon differences ntheircharacteristic eedsandpassions.In otherwords,Rousseau'sattackon Frenchmusic impliesthe analysisof humannatureanddevelopmenthe elaborated oon afterwardn his philosophicalworks.Thereaction o the Letteron FrenchMusicwas immediate ndfurious.Rousseauwasdenied ntryotheParisOpera ndburnedneffigybyitsmusi-cians.His workprovokedver hirty,mostlyangry esponses,he most mpor-tant of which was Rameau'sObservationson Our Instinct or Music and onIts Principle,which was published t the same time as Rousseau's econdDiscourse(summer1754). AlthoughRousseaubarelymentionsRameauin his examination f Frenchmusic,it hadto be consideredan attackon26 Ibid.,328.27 Ibid.,296-97.

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John T ScottFrance'sgreatestmusicianandmusical theorist.Rameauquicklyadapteda writingon whichhe was alreadyat work,arguinghatourinstinctnatu-rallyleads us to the harmonicmodulations erived romthe resonance fa soundingbody,the coreof his theoryof harmony nd,he maintains,he"principle"f all music.28He hadalwayscontendedhatmelodyderivedfromharmony, ut in the Observations e takesa more extremepositionin order o opposeRousseau'sargument boutthe priorityof melody:"Itbelongs to harmonyalone to stir the passions;melodyderivesits forceonly from thatsource,fromwhichit directlyemanates."29 hilethe de-bate betweenRousseauandRameau s immediatelyconcernedwith thepriorityof harmony ndmelody, t raisedthe moreimportantssueof thenatureof musicalexpression, ransformingwhatbeganas a quarrel vernationalmusicsinto "a seriousargument boutaestheticsand even meta-physics."30Rameau olloweduphis responseo the Letteron FrenchMusicwithabitter ommentaryn anumberfRousseau's rticles n music ntheEncyclo-pedia. Rameau'sprincipalobjection n his Errorson Music in theEncyclope-dia (1755)is thatRousseauhasnotproperly raspedhe harmonic asisofmusic.Rameau iewed Rousseau'sew criticismsof theoverly"harmonic"nature f hismusicalheory ndpractice sdamningvidence fapoorunder-standing f theart.Forexample,nresponseo Rousseau'suggestionhatheadheresoo literallyo his "principles"y fillingout all his chordsn anac-companiment,ameau rgueshat heharmony cannot e truncated ithoutviolatingagainst he laws of naturetself."31Rameau'sounter-argumentoesfarbeyonda critique f whatRousseauactually aysintheEncyclopediarticlesbecausenow his debates actuallywiththeauthor f theLetter nFrenchMusic,as canbe seenwhenheturnsnthemidstof his critiqueo thatwriting.32e suggests hatRousseau's par-tisanship"ormelodyandpreferenceor Italianmusicbetrayan untutoredear. He ridiculesRousseau'sdoctrine f "theunityof melody"as a "chi-mera"-"words which strike the ears in discoursebutwhose effect hasonlyweakappealn musicwithouthe aidof harmony."lthoughRousseauwould like to presenthimselfas a "legislator"n music,his failuresas a

28 Foranextendedexaminationof Rousseau'sandRameau's reatment f Lully'srecitative,seeVerba,Musicand theFrenchEnlightenment,1-30;"TheDevelopment f Rameau'sThoughtsonModulation ndChromatics,"ournaloftheAmericanMusicologicalSociety,26 (1973),72-91.29Rameau,Observationsurnotre nstinctpour la musique,Preface,CompleteTheoreticalWritings,V,264.30Cranston, ean-Jacques,279.31 Rameau,Erreurs ur la musiquedansI'Encyclopedie,CompleteTheoreticalWritings,V,208. 32SeeVerba,Musicand theFrenchEnlightenment,. See alsoWokler,"Rousseau nRameauandRevolution," 61-62.

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Rousseau's Musical Theoryand his Philosophycomposer ndas a theorist etray fundamental isunderstandingf music."Aslong as melodyalone is consideredas the principalmovingforceofmusic'seffects there will not be greatprogress n this art,"Rameaupro-claims, "It is thereforeonly directlyfromthe harmony,motherof thismelody, that the differenteffects we experiencein music arise."33 orRameau,musicis explainedby the harmonics roducedby the resonanceof a body in motion.Music is a "physico-mathematicalcience,"34 sci-ence that investigatesa universalnaturecharacterized y harmonyandproportion nd subjectto rationalhumanunderstanding.ndeed,for Ra-meaumusic is the "mother f the sciences,"35he best subject n whichtoglimpsethe essentiallyharmonic r proportionateharacter f natureas awhole.In Rousseau'seyes Rameau'smusicaltheorytends toward he reduc-tionistrationalismndmaterialism e opposes n hisphilosophy s a whole,andit is in his reactiono Rameau'sheory hatwe see his musical heorycome togetherwith the guidingthreadof his philosophy.Like Rameau,Rousseau laims"nature"s the sourceof his owntheoryof music,but hisconceptionof "nature"s quite different.36Whereasfor Rameaumusicseemed o havelittleto do withhumannaturebeyond hepossessionof anauralorgan,for Rousseau ruemusicwas a distinctivelyhumanphenom-enon. Rousseau'sresponseto Rameauultimately nvolvedthe theoryofhumannatureanddevelopment e firstexposed n the SecondDiscourse,a workhe beganaroundhe time his Letteron FrenchMusicfirstappearedandcompleted hortlybefore his polemicalexchangewith Rameau om-menced.Rousseau'saccount n the SecondDiscourseof the passionatenatureandoriginof speechandsong supplies he theoretical asisfortheargument ketched n the Letteron FrenchMusic. The debatebetweenRameauandRousseauproved o be an epochalbattlewheretwo aesthet-ics and "twodistinctandwell-consideredhilosophies f musicconfrontedone another."37Rameau'sattackstimulatedRousseau o developthe musicaltheoryoutlined n the Letter on FrenchMusic.However,his directresponse oRameau,the Examinationof TwoPrinciples Advanced by M. Rameau, re-mainsfocused on the disputeover the priorityof melodyandharmony.

33 Rameau,Erreurs,CompleteTheoreticalWritings,V,219.4Rameau,Generationharmonique,CompleteTheoreticalWritings, II,6.35See Rameau,Observations,Preface,CompleteTheoreticalWritings,V,264-65.6 ForRameau ndRousseau nnature nrelationomusic,seeKintzler, RameautRousseau:Le chocdedeuxesthetiques," reface o Rousseau, crits surlaMusique Stockholm,1979),xiii-xxiv; Colm Kiernan,"Rousseauand Music in the FrenchEnlightenment," renchStudies,26

(1972), 156-65.Foranextensive reatment f thescientificsourcesof Rameau'smusical heory, eeChristensen,RameauandMusicalThoughtn theEnlightenment.37Cranston, ean-Jacques,288.

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John T ScottRousseauwrote the Examination n 1755,just after the appearance fRameau'sErrors;but the final formof the workdatesfromabouta decadelater,whenhe consideredpublishing t as a preface o his DictionaryofMusic(whichhe did not do-the workwas publishedposthumously). sits title suggests, he Examinationesponds o two "principles"dvancedby Rameaun his critique:irst,thatharmonys the unique oundation fmusicandits greateffectsand,second andderivatively,hatthe accompa-nimentrepresentshe soundingbody.Rousseauconcentrates n the first"principle,"hich,he states,contains"thecruxof theirdisagreementverthe basis for the wholemusicalart."38 hereasRameau rgues hata pieceof music with a good harmonic uccession"relatesdirectlyto the soul"while the pleasure nducedby an unadornedmelody"doesnot pass be-yondthe earcanal,"39 ousseaustates:

Themost beautiful hords, ike the mostbeautiful olors,cancon-vey to the senses a pleasantsensationandnothingmore.But theaccentsof the voice passall the way to the soul;for theyarethenaturalexpressionof the passions, andby depictingthemtheyexcite them. It is by meansof themthatmusicbecomesoratorical,eloquent,mitative,heyformits language;t is by meansof themthat t depictsobjects o the imagination,hat t conveys eelings othe heart.It is by meansof the song,notby meansof the chords,thatsoundshaveexpression,ire, life;it is thesongalonethatgivesthemthe moral effects thatproduceall of music's energy.In aword, hephysicalpartaloneof the art s reducedo verylittle andharmonydoes not pass beyondthat.40ToRameau'sphysical"cienceofharmonyRousseaupposesatheory f the"moral ffects"of themelodyas the conduit f thepassions.Whilehe admitsthatsimpleharmonys natural,Rousseau ontendshat"thefeelingwhichdevelopst is acquired ndartificial, sarethemajority f thoseattributedonature,"oncludingntheveinof theSecondDiscoursehat"it s an inconve-nienceinseparableromgreatcities that naturemust be soughtfaroff."41Rousseau's assing emarkboutwhereoneought o seekouthuman a-ture uggests hathe couldprovide n account f themelodicoriginof musicandits development.n fact,he originallydidjust that at thispointin theoriginaldraftof the text in a self-describedigression e cutfrom he final

38Rousseau,Examende deuxprincipesavancesparM. Rameaudans sa Brochurentitulee,Erreurs ur la musiquedans 'Encyclopedie,OC, V,351.39Rameau,Erreurs,CompleteTheoreticalWritings,V,221.40 Rousseau,Examen, OC,V,358-59.41 Rousseau,Examen, OC, V,355.

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Rousseau's Musical Theoryand his Philosophyversion of the Examinationbut incorporated nto his Essay on the Originof Languages.4The digressionbegins with a passagethat resonates nseveral ways with the Second Discourse:

We are so perfectlygnorant f thenatural tateof manthatwe donotevenknowif he hada sortof crywhichbelonged o him;but,on the otherhand,we know him foranimitative nimalwhois notslow to appropriate ll the facultieshe can derive fromthe ex-ampleof the otheranimals.43He continueswith an accountof the peakof expressivemelodic anguageamong he Greeksandthena declineculminatingn the modemharmonicmusicof Rameau.As Duchezremarks,hisdigressionmarks"thepointofjuncture f two concurrentreoccupations:he ones concerningmusicandlanguage, he othersconcerningsociety and language."44y incorporat-ing this digressionnto the Essay,Rousseaurealizeda work n whichhewas able to transcend is immediate olemicwith Rameau ndexplore herelationship etweenhis musicaltheoryandhis philosophy.

TheEssay on the Origin of Languagesand Rousseau's"System"The Essay on the Origin of Languages is an expansiveworkthatbringstogetherhephilosophicalndmusical treams f Rousseau's areer. heworkhasreceivedncreasedttentionn recent ears,mostnotablynJacques errida'sinfluentialOfGrammatology,hichdescribesheEssayasrepresentativef adecisive"epoch"n Westernmetaphysics; y Paulde Man n his importantresponseto Derridaand in his otherwritings;andby JeanStarobinski,amongothers.45uchinterpretationsf Rousseau's inguistic reatisehave42Two cholarsimultaneouslynd ndependentlyublishedhedigression: arie-ElisabethDuchez,"Principede la Melodie et Originedes langues:Un brouillonineditde Jean-JacquesRousseauur 'origine e amelodie,"evue emusicologie,0(1974),33-86; ndRobertWokler,"Rameau,Rousseau,andtheEssai sur l 'originedes langues,"Studieson VoltairendtheEigh-teenthCentury,117(1974), 179-238. See alsoWokler,Rousseauon Society,Politics,MusicandLanguage,hap. V andAppendix.43Rousseau, 'Originede la melodie, OC,V,331.CompareecondDiscourse,CW, II,25-26,31.44 Duchez,"Principee lamelodie,"8. SeealsoCranston,ean-Jacques,89;MicheleDuchet ndMichelLaunay, Synchroniet diachronie:'Essai url'originedeslangues t ledeuxiemeDiscours,"Revueinternationaledephilosophic,82 (1967), 421-42; Glyn P.Norton,"Retrospectiveimeand he MusicalExperiencenRousseau,"ModemLanguageQuarterly,34(1973),131-45;135.45Jacques errida, fGrammatology,rans.Gayatri hakravortypivakBaltimore,974);idem,"TheLinguisticCircleof Geneva,"n Margins f Philosophy,rans.AllanBass(Chi-cago,1982),137-53;JeanStarobinski,Rousseaund heOrigin fLanguages,"nJean-Jacques

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John T Scottnottended o stress he musicalcontentof thework,whichis indicated yits full title-Essay on the Origin of Languages, In which melodyand mu-sical imitationare treated-nor have they interpreted he writingin light ofhis othermusicalwritings.Rousseauhimself claimsthathis workorigi-natedfrom a fragment f the Second Discoursewhich he omittedas toolongandoutof place.46Whatportionof the workhe couldmean s uncer-tain;but as notedabove,we now know thatpartof the Essayoriginatedsa digressionn his original esponse o Rameau,writtenust after hepub-licationof the SecondDiscourse.Rousseauseems to have combined hetwo excisedfragmentsnto a singleworkuponwhich he worked ntermit-tentlyfor close to a decadebeforeit reached ts final formaround1763,whenhe refers the readerof the Emile (1762) to the workas proofthat"somethingmoralenters nto everything onnectedwith imitation."47heEssaybelongsto thephilosophical rojectof Rousseau'sSecondDiscourseas well as to Rousseau's olemicwithRameau ndprovides hebest viewof the links betweenRousseau'smusicaltheoryandhis philosophyas awhole.

Speechand hePerfectible assionsRousseaurgueshatanguagendmusicoriginates theexpressionfthepassionshatdevelopwhenhumans ome ntothe sustainedontacthatacti-vates heir atentpassions nd aculties.Hebegins heEssaybydescribinghecapacity or communications a uniquelyhumanattribute:Speechdistin-guishesman rom heanimals. anguage istinguishesationsrom achother."Linguisticariationsredue o localphysical auses uchas climate.However,Rousseau's mphasison physicalcauses shouldnot obscurehis underlyingargumentbout inguistic ndcultural ariation:hysicalcauseshavea vari-ableeffectonhuman eingsbecauseof theirdistinctivelymalleable assionsand aculties.Socialanimalsuchas beavers ndantshavesome ormof lan-

guage,but their anguages natural nd invariable. Conventionalanguagebelongsonlyto man.That s whymanmakesprogress,whetherorgoodorbad,andwhy the animalsdo not at all."48

Rousseau:Transparencynd Obstruction,rans.ArthurGoldhammerChicago,1988);Paul deMan,BlindnessandInsight:Essaysin theRhetoricofContemporaryCriticismNewYork,1971);idem,Allegoriesof Reading:Figural Language nRousseau, Nietzsche,Rilke,and Proust(NewHaven,1979).46See Rousseau,Essai sur l'originedes langues, Projetde Preface,OC, V,373.47Rousseau,Emile,340. In thefirsteditionoftheEmile,Rousseaureferredo an"essayon the

PrinciplesofMelody"but thenchanged hereference otheEssayin 1764. SeeDuchez,"Principede la Melodieet Originedes langues,"49.48Rousseau,Essai, OC, V, 375, 379.

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Rousseau's Musical Theoryand his PhilosophyThe connectionRousseauestablishesbetween the capacityfor con-ventionalanguage ndambiguousapacity or"progress"uggestsa closerelationship etween anguageand what he identifiesas the distinctivelyhuman"facultyof self-perfection,"r "perfectibility."e definesperfect-

ibility as "a facultywhich, with the aid of circumstances, uccessivelydevelopsall the others,andresidesamongus as much n the speciesas inthe individual."This "faculty"resides in the species and the individualbecausethe sustained nteraction mongindividualsabsent n mankind'soriginalconditiondevelops heirneedsandpassionsandtherebyactivatesperfectibilitynd other"faculties"heyhavebeengiven"inpotentiality."49WhileRousseau tates in the SecondDiscoursethat"althoughhe organof speech s naturaloman,speech tselfis nonetheless otnaturalo him,"50in the Essayhe explains hatthe inventionof speechfor communication"depends ess on the organswe use for that communication han on afacultyproperto man,which makeshim put his organsto that use."51Speech s one of the potentialacultieswhoseactualizations itself a facetof perfectibility. peech s the organof a beingwhoalone"progresses"san individualandspecies. Previousphilosophers,notablyAristotle,52l-mostunanimously ointedto speechas the distinctivelyhumanproperty.WhileRousseauagrees hatspeechbelongsto humansalone,thatcapacitydoes not define the speciessince it restsuponthe trulydifferentiatinga-pacityforperfectibility; peech comesto distinguishman fromthe otheranimals,butnot in anynecessaryor teleological ashion.For Rousseau anguageand music are originallyandessentiallythecommunicationf "themoralneeds,the passions.""Neitherhungernorthirst,but love, hatred,pity, angerwrestedthe firstvoices fromthem."53The sameargumenthatexplainsthe originof languageandmusic alsoexplainstheirpowerover the humanheart. The expressivecharacter fspeechandsongcannotbe explainedby the "physical ause"of the har-monicvibrationsof the soundingbody,as Rameaucontended,but is in-steaddue to a "moral ause" hatproduces "moral ffect."54he distinc-tion Rousseaudrawsbetweennatural r "physical" assionsand socialor"moral" assionsa centralone for the Essayas a whole.The fundamentalphysical/moraldistinctionunderliesboth the diachronicand synchronicanalysesthatRousseauweavesthrough he Essay,5 andit underlies he49Rousseau,SecondDiscourse, CW,III, 26-27, 42.50Rousseau,Discourse onInequality,CW,III,83.u1Rousseau,Essai, OC,V, 379.52SeeAristotle,Politics 1.2.1253a8-18.53Rousseau,Essai, OC, V, 380.54Rousseau,Essai, OC, V,412-19.55See DuchezandLaunay,"Synchronie tdiachronie."

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John T.Scottdichotomies he constructs n the work:melody vs. harmony, outhvs.north,ancientvs. modem.Thedistinctionbetweenphysicaland moralpassions ound n the Es-say also underlieshis centralargumentn the SecondDiscourseconcern-ing human natureand development.56 y naturehumansare limitedtoeasily satisfiedphysicalneeds andpassions;butthose needsandpassionsdevelop nto social or moralpassionsas humans omeintosustained on-tact with theirfellows. The archetypalassionforRousseaun this regardis love. He distinguishesbetweenthe "moral" ndthe "physical"n thesentimentof love:"Thephysical s thatgeneraldesirewhich inclinesonesex to unite with theother.Themoral s thatwhich determineshis desireandfixes it exclusivelyon a singleobject."Humansareby natureimited"solelyto thatwhichis physical n love."57he "moral"acet of the senti-ment of love is a specificdevelopment f the natural,"physical"nclina-tion thatoccurswith a development f the passionsandfaculties n gen-eral.Thephysical/moralistinctionRousseaudraws or the sexualpassionalso holds for the otherpassions,notablynatural elf-loveandits devel-oped form of amour-propre.With an awakeningof the moralpassionscomes a desireof humanbeingsto communicatehemto theirfellows,to thosetheynowrecognizeas beinglike themselves.The firstlanguagewas animated y the melodicaccentof the developingmoralpassions;andas suchit wouldhavebeensung rather hanspoken,poetic and figurative n character.n ordertoillustratehe figurative haracter f the firstlanguage,Rousseaugives theexampleof one manencounteringnother.His fear causesthismanto seethe otheras taller andstrongerhan himself andhe will give suchbeingsthename"giant." urtherxperiencewill reveal hatthesebeingsaresimi-larto himself and he will give themthe name "man."58ousseaugives asimilardescriptionof savageman'sview of his "fellows" n the SecondDiscourse, ustbeforehis considerationf the originof speech here:"Theconformities hat time could makehimperceiveamong hem,his female,andhimself ed him tojudgeof those whichhe couldnotperceive; nd ...he concluded hattheirway of thinkingandfeelingconformed ntirely ohis own."59 recognitionhatthe "other"s like oneself is neededbefore

56Fora more xtensive iscussionftherelationshipetweenhe"physical"nd he"moral"modes fhuman xistencenRousseau'shought,eeJohnT. cott,"TheTheodicyftheSecondDiscourse:The'PureStateof Nature' ndRousseau's oliticalThought,"merican oliticalScienceReview,86(1992), 696-711.57Rousseau,SecondDiscourse,CW,III,38-39.58 Rousseau,Essai, OC, V,381-82.59Rousseau,SecondDiscourse, CW, III,44.

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Rousseau's Musical Theory and his Philosophyhumanswill tryto communicatewiththeirperceived ellows.60 As soonas one manwas recognizedby anotheras a sentientbeing,thinkingandsimilar o himself,the desireor the needto communicateis feelingsandthoughts to him made him seek the means for doing so."61The conscious-ness of fellowhumanity equires sympatheticecognition f sharedpas-sion-compassion.

Pityand the PassionateOriginof HumanCommunicationInthe EssayRousseaubeginshis accountof the passionateoriginofspeechin the southern limateswith a discussionof pity.The earlyscat-tered nhabitantsf the earthhad no societyother hanthe familyandnolanguage beyond gesture and some unarticulated ounds because theylackedthe social or moralpassionsthatgive rise to society andto truespeech. "Socialaffectionsdevelopin us only with our enlightenment,"Rousseauexplains:"Pity,althoughnatural o the heartof man,wouldre-maineternallynactivewithout he imaginationhatputsit intoplay."Pityrequires ransportingurselves outside of ourselvesto identifywith an-other."HowcouldI suffer n seeinganother uffer f I do not evenknowthathe suffers, f I do not know whathe andI havein common?"62AlthoughRousseau'sargumentn the Essayabout he initial nactivityof pity may seem to contradictwhat he says in the SecondDiscourse,uponcarefulexaminationhere is no genuinecontradiction etweenthetwo works.63His argumentn the SecondDiscourseis not preciselythatpity is initiallyactive, but rather hat it is a "principle" f naturalrightwhichdoesnot assumenaturalociability, nd his emphasishere s on thepresocialfoundation f natural ight.In fact he neverarguesthatpity isfully activeby nature:he statesthatpity is "thefirst relativesentimentwhich ouches he humanheartaccordingo theorder f nature."64ousseauseems to overstate he role of pity in the SecondDiscoursefor rhetoricalpurposes,hat s, to buttresshis accountof the stateof nature s a peaceful60Paulde Man discusses the episodeand comes to a similarconclusion,emphasizingthenarcissistic lement nRousseau's heory:"theparadigmaticinguisticmodel s thatof anentity hatconfronts tself" ("Theoryof Metaphor n Rousseau'sSecondDiscourse,"Studiesin Romanti-cism, 38 [1977],488-95).61 Rousseau,Essai, OC, V, 375.62Ibid., 395.63Foraccountsof thevariouspositionson therelationshipof theEssayto Rousseau'sworkas a wholeandon itsdating,seeWokler,RousseauonSociety,Politics,MusicandLanguage,301-24;CharlesPorset,"L'inqui6tante trangete'de l'Essaisur 'originedeslangues:Rousseauetses

exegetes,"Studieson Voltaire nd theEighteenthCentury,154(1976), 1715-54.Foranalternativeexplanationof Rousseau'sambiguousaccountof pity,see Derrida,OfGrammatology,165-94.4See Rousseau,SecondDiscourse, CW,III, 14-15,36-37 (emphasissupplied).See RogerD. Masters,ThePoliticalPhilosophyofRousseau(Princeton,1968),71-72.

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John T.Scottcondition.n the Essayhe reveals hat he developmentf pityis the foun-dationfor the socialor moralpassionsandfaculties, ncluding ommuni-cation.Thedevelopmentf human assions nd acultiesdepends ponarecogni-tion of commonality. fterhumans ather hroughnatural ccidents uchasearthquakesr volcaniceruptions, ustained ontactdevelopstheirfacul-ties andpassions."Peoplegather ogetherarounda commonhearth,havefeasts, dancethere;the sweet ties of habit imperceptibly ringtogetherman and his fellows, and on this rustic hearthburns he sacredfire thatcarries o the depthsof theirhearts he first sentiment f humanity."s intheSecondDiscourse, he crucialdevelopmentccurswhen differentami-lies come intocontact.The arid climateof the south makescommonwa-teringplacesimportanto its nomadic nhabitants,nd it is at thesewellsthathitherto eparatedamilies come into contact."Herewereformed hefirst ties betweenfamilies;here the firstmeetingsbetween he two sexestook place.... Hereeyes accustomed o the same objectsfromchildhoodbegan to see sweeterones." The meetingsbetweenthe sexes offer theconditions or the development f the passionsbeyondtheirinitiallyha-bitualandessentially olipsisticbasis:

Beneathagedoaks, conquerors f years, an ardentyouth gradu-allyforgot tsferocity,ittleby little heytamedoneanother;hroughendeavoringo make themselvesunderstood,hey learned o ex-plainthemselves.Therethe first festivalstook place, feet leapedwithjoy, eagergestureno longersufficed,the voice accompaniedit with passionateaccents;mingledtogether,pleasureand desiremadethemselves elt at the same time. Therefinallywas the truecradleof peoples,and fromthepurecrystalof the fountains amethe first fires of love.65Speechandsongarebornas the melodious ccentsof theawakenedassions.Intheparallel ccountntheSecondDiscourse,Rousseau ashis loversdanc-ingaround large ree n his ownversionof theScripturalall:"[S]onganddance, ruechildren f love and eisure,became he amusement rratherheoccupationof idle and assembledmen and women. Each one begantolookat the othersandto wantto be lookedat himself..."66 hetransforma-tion of the sexualpassion roma physicaldesireto a moralsentiment o-incides with a similartransformationf the naturalpassionof self-loveintoamour-propre.hedevelopment f the capacity or communicationsthereforepartof a moregeneraldevelopment f humannature.

65Rousseau,Essai, OC, V, 402-6.66 Rousseau,SecondDiscourse, CW, III,47.

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Rousseau's Musical Theoryand his PhilosophyThedevelopment f the passionsand the desireto communicatehemmarks he pointwhenhumansbecome social or moralbeingsand estab-lish separate ations.67nthe EssayRousseauherefore ontrastshe amo-rousoriginof language ndmusicin the south o the needybeginnings f

speechin the cold regionsof the north.Insteadof the meridional xpres-sion of moral ove, "aimez-moi,"hephysicallyneedy peoplesof the northhavea characteristicallyarsherdemand,"aidez-moi."68physicalcause,climate,elicitsa different evelopmentn man'spassionsand thus a differ-ent characteristic ormof communication.French,a northernanguage,bearsthe imprintof its origin; ts harsharticulationsnd mutedsyllablescannotsupport sonorousmusic;Rousseau herebyprovidesan explana-tion for his claimsin the Letter on FrenchMusic aboutthe differencesbetweenItalianand Frenchmusic.FromMoralMelodyto PhysicalHarmony

RousseauurnsntheEssayfrom heoriginof languagesoananalysis fthecharacternddevelopmentf music.Hisaccount f music'sdevelopmentis a historyhatmovesfrom hepoleof thepassionatemelodyof the south otheharmoniccienceof thenorth.Themelodicanguage f thesouthremainsthearchetypalriginof language ndmusic.He describeshe first anguages"tuneful"r "singing." hepassionsareexpressed s cadencedmelodicac-cents:"[P]assionmakesallthe vocalorgans peak,andadorns he voicewithall theirbrilliance;husverses, ongs,andspeechhaveacommon rigin." hecharacterf alanguage rmusicdepends pon he ypeofmelodicaccentwithwhich t isaccentuated,hich n turndepends pon"thekindofpassion"hatdictatest.Atfirst"therewas nomusicat all other hanmelody,noranyothermelody thanthe varied sound of speech."69 he highly articulatedan-guagesbornof the needypassionsof the northrepresenthe separationfspeech and song, the fate that looms over the melodic languageof thesouth.As in the SecondDiscourse,man'semergence s a moraland socialbeingcarrieswith it the germof corruption.Moder Europeananguages,especially French,not only have a northernoriginthat makethemtheunmelodic xpressions f selfishneed,buttheycan also be representeds

67 Fora moreextensive discussion of Rousseau'sunderstandingf therelationshipbetweenlinguisticandpolitical developmentandhis theoryof the naturalbasis of cultureandculturalvariability n general,see JohnT. Scott,"Rousseauandthe MelodiousLanguageof Freedom,"JournalofPolitics(forthcoming).On music and heemergenceofhuman ociality,seeChristopherKelly," 'To PersuadewithoutConvincing':The Languageof Rousseau'sLegislator,"AmericanJournal fPolitical cience, 1(1987),321-35; 29.

68 Rousseau,Essai, OC,V,408.69Ibid.,410.

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John T.Scottthe endpointof a historicaldegenerationf musicandlanguageaccompa-niedby a decline n politicsandmorals.The degeneration f musicculminates n the modemscience of har-mony.Rousseau hereforereturns o his polemicwith Rameauover thepriorityof melodyandharmony ndrecasts t in the historicalmodethatmakeshis linguistic ssayso similar o the SecondDiscourse.He reformu-lateshis disputewithRameauas partof the quarrel etween he ancientsandmodems,contrastinghe expressive powerof the melodic languageandmusicof ancientGreece o the inexpressivemodemmusicdominatedby harmony.RameauhadarguedhatGreekmusic couldnothavebeenasexpressiveas claimedbecause t was baseduponan inadequate armonicscience.Rousseau espondshatGreekmusicwas basedon different prin-ciples" thanmodernharmony,"principles"hatderivelargelyfromthealmostinconceivablymelodiclanguageuponwhich it was based.70n hispolitical houghtRousseaundicateshesuperiorityf ancientpracticewhilerefoundingt on the basisof modemnatural ight heory.Similarly,n hismusicaltheoryRousseauappeals o the powerful nfluenceof musicandlanguageexperienced mongthe ancientswhile seekingto rekindle t onthe basis of a properly edirectedmodemphilosophic pproachhattakescognizanceof both the natural r physicalandthemoralor culturalevelsof humancommunication.A properexplanationof musical and linguistic expressivenessmustbegin from the complexnatureof man.

Man smodified yhissenses,noone doubtst;butbecausewe failtodistinguishheirmodifications,econfoundheir auses;weattributeboth oo muchand oolittledominionosensations; edonotseethatoften heyaffectus notonlyassensations utassignsorimages,andthat theirmoraleffectsalso have moralcauses.7'His analysisof musicalexpressionestsuponthedistinctionn the SecondDiscoursebetween"physical"nd"moral"assions.Theeffectsof harmonyare"purely hysical" ndproduce "pleasantensation" utnothingmore.The full expressive owerof songdependsuponthemelody,butsince themelodyderives rom heparticular assionsexpressed y thepeopleamongwhom tis used, hefull effectof a music s restrictedothatmusico-linguisticcommunity.Themostbeautifulongs, o our aste,willalwaysonly ndiffer-entlytouchanearthat s notat all accustomedo them; t is a languageorwhichone has to havethe dictionary."72

70Ibid.,411-12.71 Ibid.,412.72 Ibid.,415.

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Rousseau 's Musical Theory and his PhilosophyMusicis a semantic ystembased on themelodic mitation f thepas-sions sharedby a people:"Thesoundsof a melodydo not act on us solelyas sounds,but as signsof ouraffections,of ourfeelings; t is in this waythat heyexcitein us theemotions hey expressandthe imageof whichwe

recognizein them."73 theorythat studiesonly music's purelysensualeffects will neversucceedin understandinghe sourceof its expressive-ness and will only producepallid compositions."Let whoeverwishestophilosophizeaboutthe strengthof sensations hereforebegin by settingasidepurelysensual mpressions part romthe intellectual ndmoral m-pressionswhichwe receiveby way of the senses,but of whichthe sensesare only the occasionalcauses;let him avoidthe errorof attributingosensibleobjectsa powerthattheydo not have or thattheyderive rom heaffectionsof the soul whichthey represento us." If music is the expres-sion of the social or moralpassionsas they developdifferentlyamongdifferentpeoples, then it mustbe understood s a culturalphenomenon.Music mustbe understood s a semantic ystem-indeed culturesn gen-eral must be understoodn thisway.74Rousseau'sheoryof the communi-cation of the passionsthroughmelodicaccent lluminateshis understand-ing of how the "moral" imensionof humanexistencedevelopsfrom aninitiallypurely"physical" asis.As the fullestconsiderationf the relationshipetween he "physical"and the "moral,"he Essay and Rousseau'smusicalwritingsmoregener-ally offerthe best glimpseinto the metaphysicalheorydescribedn theConfessions: the "Sensitive Morality, or the Wise Man's Materialism."75Rousseaunevercompletedhis metaphysicalreatise,but its theory s mostfully evident n the Essay.This interpretations suggestedby the originalsource of his discussionof the originanddegeneration f music in theEssay:the digressionhe removed romhis directreplyto Rameau's riti-cismof his Encyclopedia rticles. n thatdigression, e concludesby sug-gestingthe scope of his ambition n counteringhe reductionist hiloso-phy representedn musicby Rameau:

Let us thennotthink hat heempiremusichas overourpassionsseverexplainedby proportionsndfigures,becauseone cannotdis-cover n themany typeof connection etweennature ndman.Theprinciple ndtherulesareonlythe material f theart;a moresubtlemetaphysicss needed n order o explain ts greateffects.7673 Ibid.,417.74Claude Levi-Straussattests to Rousseau'sinfluence on anthropologyandcalls him thefounderof the humansciences("Jean-Jacques ousseau: ondateur es sciencesde l'homme,"n

Jean-JacquesRousseau,ed. MarcEigeldinger Neuchatel,1962],esp. 240).75Rousseau,Confessions,CW,V, 343-44.76 Rousseau,L'Originede la melodie, OC, V,343.

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John T.ScottRousseausuppliesthis "metaphysics"n the Essay, where he exclaims:"[I]nthis century,wheneveryeffort is madeto materialize ll the opera-tions of the soul and to deprivehuman eelingsof all morality, ammis-taken f the new philosophydoes not becomeas fatal to goodtasteas tovirtue."77he core of Rousseau'smusicaltheoryis perhapsbest articu-latedby himin yet anotherwork,his novelJulie,in whichhe popularizedhis ideas on musicby includingwo long letterson the subject.Music,heexplains,does not emergefrom the physicalrelationshipof soundsbutfrom he nature f manhimselfandthe"powerfulndsecretconnection fthe passionswithsounds."78ousseau'smaturemusical heory s animatedby the samespiritand basedon the sameprinciplesand concernsas his"system"as a whole.

Conclusion: ousseau'sNew AestheticRousseaubelieved he haduncovered he hiddenprinciplesof musicand its expressivepower,and his musicaltheorycarriedwith it a newaesthetic.Thataestheticcannotbe derivedfrom his musicalworkin de-tachment romits philosophicalfoundation,and indeed it was less thedirectinfluenceof his musicalcompositionsand theoriesthan the spiritandideasthatanimatedhemthatexplains heirimpact.The influenceofthe new aestheticdoctrineexpressedin Rousseau'smusicalwritingsinparticular as largelyfelt throughhis Dictionaryof Music.TheDictionaryrepresentshe literalrevisionof his musical heory omake it accordmorefully with his philosophy.The lexiconoriginatednthepre-systematicrticleson music forthe Encyclopedia,utoverhalfofthe articlesn the Dictionarywereentirelynew,includinghe mostimpor-tantones,andthemajority f thearticlescarried verfromthe Encyclope-dia were substantially evised.79The Dictionary appeared n 1768 afterovera decadeof work,and"soonachieved he statusof an indispensablereferencework."80n the Preface,Rousseauexplainsthathe has tried toproducea lexicon that is at the sametime a coherentheory,althoughhedoes not believe that he hassucceeded.Nonetheless, noughof theunder-lying theory s evident n the Dictionary or its novel aestheticdoctrineobe clearlyvisible.

77 Rousseau,Essai, OC, V, 419.78 Rousseau,Julie, ou la NouvelleHeloise, 1.48(OC, II, 132).Theother letter n the noveldedicated omusic,specifically opera, s 11.23.79Verba,"RadicalandTraditionalViews," 320;ThomasWebbHunt,"TheDictionnairedemusiqueof Jean-JacquesRousseau" PhD. diss., North Texas StateUniversity, 1967).80Hunt,"TheDictionnairede musique,'358-59.

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Rousseau's Musical Theoryand his PhilosophyInthe DictionaryRousseau laborates is theoryof music as an imita-tive communication f the humanpassions.The centralityof imitationsuggests hathe belongs o a longtradition atingbackto at leastAristotle.His understandingf music as the imitation f the passions urther hows

that his aesthetic heoryowes much to Dubos,who argued hatmusiccanbe an imitation f thepassionsandspokeof "sensitivity"s the facultyofrecognizing hose passions,even contrastinghe "physical" nd "moral"("cultural"r "social")aspectsof musicaleffect. However,Dubosalsoseems to assume a constant,universalhumannature hat is not radicallyalteredby "moral" ffects and a commonsensitivitysharedby all indi-viduals.8'Rousseau'smaturemusicaltheorythereforerestsuponan un-derstandingf humannatureanddevelopmenthat is significantlydiffer-ent from thatarticulated r assumedby any of his predecessors,hushisviews on musical mitation s theexpression f passionsandhis insistenceuponthe variabilityn the forms of their communication ltimatelypro-ducesa novel aestheticdoctrine.82Thetheoreticalhiftof Rousseau'smusical heorycan be seenin severalimportant rticles ntheDictionary.The articlesExpression,Harmonie, mita-tion, Melodie, Unite de melodie,amongothers,directlyelaborate hetheoryofmusicas thecommunicationf thepassions ound n the Essay,sometimeswith the same formulations.Othersarticlesexpandon his theoryof thevariability f musicalexpression.n the articleAccent,Rousseaudiscussesthe naturalbasis of the melodic accent and its culturalvariability: [T]heuniversalaccent of naturewhich drawsfromeveryman inarticulateriesis one thing,andthe accentof the languagewhichengendershe melodypeculiaro a nation s another."While he "samebasis of passion" eigns nall souls, there is a prodigious arietyof accentedexpressionn differentlanguages ndmusics.83 e takesupthosedifferencesnthearticleMusique,wherehe provides xamplesof ancientGreek,Chinese,Turkish, nd othermusics,andargues hattheyrepresent nique ormsof musicthatcannotbe understood n the basis of the purportedly niversal heoriesof har-mony.Oneexamplegivenby the Citizen of Geneva s especiallyrevealing.He relatesthatthe Frenchhave forbidden he playingof the Alpinetunethe "Rans-des-vaches"ince it wouldcause theirSwiss troops"to melt intears,desert,ordie, so muchwould t arouse n themthedesire o see their

81Jean-BaptisteDubos,Rflexions critiques urlapoesie et lapeinture,11.3; itedbyKintzler,Poetiquede 'opera,506.82 See Kintzler,Poetiquede l'opera,492-514, andVerba,Music and theFrenchEnlighten-ment,36-38. CompareGeorges Snyders,Le Goutmusical en France auxXVIIeetXVIIIesiecles(Paris,1968), 121-34.83 Rousseau,DictionaryofMusic, s.v.Accent, OC, V,614-15.

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countryagain."He also notes that this effect does not takeplaceon anyforeigner."Themusicthereforedoes not preciselyact as music,butas amemorativeign."84hemusicalgeniusis the creativeconduitwho raisesthese imagesin the heartsof his people:"[T]hegenius of the musiciansubmits he entireuniverse o his art. He paintsevery portrait y sounds;he makes silence itself speak;he renders deas by feelings, feelings byaccents;andthe passionshe expresses,he arouses hemin the bottomofhearts."85 ousseau'sconceptionof music and languageas the expres-sions of a historicalpeopleand artisticgeniusesas the almostpropheticvoices of theirpeopleshadan enormousmpact.The mpact f Rousseau'shilosophicalnd iteraryworksonhis succes-sorshas oftenbeennoted.Similarly, isautobiographicalritings rticulatevision of natureand humanalienation hatappealedo the Romantics.Hismusicalworksareno exception.His conceptionof the artisticgeniuscanbe discernedn the aestheticheoryof Kant,and later hinkers.Hispolem-ics withRameauhavebeendescribedas an epochalbattlethat marks heendof thereignof theclassicalaestheticandthebeginning f a new era.86Indeed,Rousseau'smusicaltheorydirectlyinfluencedA. W. Schlegel'sinfluentialusage of the term"romantic" nd the contrasthe developedbetweenancientandmodem,"naive" nd"sentimental"ormsof art.87nsum,Rousseau's uccessorswere inspiredby the samefeelingsandideasthatmakeRousseau'smusicalwritingspartof his "system."

University f Houston.

84Rousseau,Dictionaryof Music, s.v. Musique,OC,V, 924. See JudithShklar,Men andCitizens:A StudyofRousseau'sSocial Theory Cambridge,1969), 141.85See Rousseau,DictionaryofMusic, s.v. Genie,OC, V,837-38. Compare mmanuelKant,CritiqueofJudgment,??46-50.Foranexcellentdiscussionof Rousseau's nfluenceonKantmoregenerally,see RichardL.Velkley,Freedomand theEndofReason: Onthe MoralFoundations fKant'sCriticalPhilosophy(Chicago,1989).

86 SeeKintzler, RameautRousseau:Le chocd deuxesth6tiques";dem,Poetiquedel 'operafran9aise de Corneille a Rousseau(Paris, 1991);Cranston,Jean-Jacques,288-89; idem, TheRomanticMovement London,1994);andIrvingBabbitt,Rousseauand RomanticismBoston,1919).87 See AugustWilhelmvon Schlegel,Lectureson DramaticArtandLiterature,rans.JohnBlack(London, 19092),Lecture1, 17-22.

308 John T.Scott

art. the harmony between rousseau musical theory an politic

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