Iskender Savasir asks: >Would anyone have an idea as to why Rameau was particularly interested >in the tambourine? Are there any precursor to the said interest? Or >is it something we meet for the first time in Rameau? I suspect it is the dance rather than the instrument. I found the following in Grove (via the Gramophone web site): "Tambourin An 18th-century French character piece, supposedly based on a Provencal folkdance accompanied by pipe and tabor. It is usually in a lively 2/4 metre, with a repeated bass note simulating a drum. There are examples in Rameau's operas and ballets." Roger