Jean-Philippe Rameau's final collection of harpsichord music comes under the title Pieces en Concerts. These pieces were originally written as trios, not as trio sonatas or as classical trios. There was a French genre of compositions for keyboard that included violin accompaniments. Rameau's pieces grew out of these works. His harpsichord pieces were originally composed for harpsichord, violin accompaniment, and tenor viol. Not all of the pieces in this collection are particularly fine, but several are masterpieces. La Livri was composed as a tombeau for the Comte de Livri, who had passed away the year that it was composed. The Comte de Livri had been a close friend to Rameau and the mood of the piece is sombre and funereal as the death knell is heard in the accompaniment. La Timide is a set of two rondeaus built on a hauntingly beautiful melody. The first rondeau is rhapsodic and even pensive in mood. The second breaks out into more typical Ramellian exuberance and playfulness at the keyboard, but its haunting mood returns. L'indiscrète is a lighthearted genre piece in the style of François Couperin. However, the elegant harmonies are entirely Rameau's, as is the sequential thematic material. La Boucon contains pathos-laden music such as Rameau writes for his finer operatic moments. It was composed as a type of portrait of Rameau's dear friend Madame de Mondonville, an avid harpsichordist and music lover. La Pantomime is a loure, which was a popular dance form for Rameau. In it he juxtaposes sweeps of the keyboard with close part writing and delicate flourishes with grandiose scalar patterns. La Forqueray contains dramatic octaves, rushing scalar passages, and the peal of wedding bells. It was composed in honor of the wedding of Jean-Baptise Forqueray, another friend of Rameau's. It is titled a fugue and does contain a subject. But it is an elaborate through-composed work with passagework, sequences, arpeggiations, and hand-crossings. La Dauphine was originally an extemporized solo composed in honor of the wedding of the Dauphin to Maria-Joseph of Saxony. It may have been written as part of the general public's celebrations of the wedding, or just for a friend's enjoyment. ~ Rita Laurance, All Music Guide
