Although Rameau’s operas have yet to re-enter the regular operatic repertory, his ballet music, which is colourful not only in its rich and varied instrumentation but in its quirky rhythmic, melodic and harmonic turns of phrase, has become deservedly popular. The music for Platée is so vivid and full of abrupt changes of mood that it suggests its own choreography. Dardanus was described at the time as ‘so laden with music that for three whole hours the orchestral players do not even have time to sneeze’. Pigmalion, one of Rameau’s most popular and frequently played works, includes a delightful sequence of ten short dances headed Les différents caractères de la danse, which covers all the basics of French dance in one easy lesson.