Rousseau e Diderot, «fratelli-amici» in musica : l'imitazione invisibile della natura e Jean-Philippe Rameau

Music unites two great thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment: D. Diderot and J.-J. Rousseau. Music is the only art capable of representing not the object but the feel- ings aroused in the soul by the object itself. And in this investigation into sensi- bility, the Querelle des Bouffons is the historical event that aligns the two think- ers side by side in support of Italian music, which is superior in expressing the feelings and passions of the human soul to the French opera represented by J.-P. Rameau. The divergent views between the latter and J.-J. The differing opinions between Rousseau and J.-J. Rousseau, on elements such as melody/harmony, imi- tation/expression, and Italian/French opera, shed further light on the reasons for a lively debate that focused on man and his need, through art, to express his pas- sions, feelings, and daily essentials in a society that would soon be the scene of great revolutions.