Selected Recordings

Sonate Septième in G Minor

Violin Sonatas

Sonate Huitième in D minor

Selected Sheet Music

Premiere Suite

Source: RG Editions

Showcase Piece

Les Eléments

Notes and Commentary

Jean-Féry Rebel was an innovative French Baroque composer and violinist. He was considered a child prodigy on the violin and later studied under Jean-Baptiste Lully. He was one of the first French musicians to compose sonatas in the Italian style. Many of his compositions are marked by striking originality that include complex counter-rhythms and audacious harmonies that were not fully appreciated by listeners of his time. His Les caractères de la danse combined music with dance, and presented innovative metrical inventions. The work was popular and by some accounts was performed in London in 1725 under the baton of George Frideric Handel. In honor of his teacher, Rebel composed Le tombeau de M. Lully (literally, “The Tomb of Monsieur Lully”; figuratively, “A Tribute to Lully”).

Some of his compositions are described as choreographed “symphonies.” Among his boldest original compositions is Les élémens (“The Elements”) which describes the creation of the world. He lived from April 18, 1666, to January 2, 1747.—Excerpted from Wikipedia

Books and Music

Selected Books

French Baroque Music from Beaujoyeulx to Rameau
Hal Leonard, 2003
James R. Antony
$29.39 on Amazon

“Good academic study, a little too long and not enough of a bird view of the baroque musics in Europe and their interrelationship.”—Philippe Thaure on Amazon

Selected Music

Les Elemens (2002), 1 CD

The Complete Trio Sonatas (1997), 1 CD

Plaisirs Champetres (2009), 1 CD

More Jean-Féry Rebel music

Complete Works

Note: The following list, excerpted from Wikipedia, isn’t believed to be complete.

Book of twelve sonatas in 2 or 3 parts (composed in 1695, published in Paris in 1712)
(includes: Le tombeau de M. de Lully, en hommage à son maître)
Ulysse, tragédie lyrique (1703)
Receuils d’airs sérieux et à boire, airs for voice (1695-1708)
Caprice, ballet d’action (ballet-pantomime) (1711)
12 sonatas for violin solo mixed with récits for viol, (Paris 1713)
Les caractères de la danse, ballet (1715)
La Terpsichore, ballet (1720)
Les plaisirs champêtre, ballet (1724)
Boutade, ballet
Fantaisie, ballet (1729)
Les élémens, ballet (1737)

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