ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s and Adam Smith’s ideas on musical imitation and expression within the context of musical works from the second half of the eighteenth century. It argues that the repertoire of domestic keyboard music in the period developed and fostered a new aesthetic of musical meaning derived from changing ideals of vocal performance, a process upon which Smith’s and Rousseau’s writings offer an important commentary. The instrumental recitative as a subgenre is mentioned by neither Rousseau nor Smith in any of their writings, although consideration of the developing aesthetic which gave rise to this genre illuminates a number of finer points within their work. For Rousseau the imitative aspect of music is not as all-encompassing in outlining the expressive qualities of music as it is for Smith. In their discussions of musical imitation, both writers address the origin of language as a means of communication.
