Jean-Philippe Rameau was a French composer and music theorist of the late Baroque era. Regarded as one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the 18th century, he replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer of his time for the harpsichord, alongside François Couperin. September 25, 1683 – September 12, 1764; died at 80. Alive at the same time as Isaac Newton, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, George Washington, Immanuel Kant, and Johann Sebastian Bach. Wiki link