He held organ posts in Avignon, Clermont (1715-22) and Dijon and visited Paris from 1706 until 1709 - during which time he held two organ posts, was offered a third, and published his first book of harpsichord pieces. About 1713 he moved to Lyons, where he contributed grands motets to the Lyons Concert (1714).

In 1722 he settled permanently in Paris. With the publication that year of his Traité de l'harmonie he gained the immediate attention and respect of Parisian musicians. But while his music - harpsichord pieces, cantatas and music for the theaters - was also much admired, he was unable to win an organ post in Paris.

He took on pupils, among them the talented Marie-Louise Mangeot, who became his wife in 1726. Following the appearance of his third book of harpsichord pieces, which like his second (1724) was largely devoted to pièces de caractère, he published his Observations sur la methode d'accompagnernent pour le clavecin in the Mercure de France (February 1730), drawing upon his own brilliant technique of improvising on a figured bass.

In 1727 he competed unsuccessfully with Daquin for the organ post at St Paul, bringing to a close his career as a church organist. By then he had published his second and more controversial harmony treatise, Nouveau système de musique théorique (1726), which led to disputatious exchanges with Monteclair in the pages of the Mercure de France (1729-30).

Rameau was to be embroiled for the rest of his life in controversies concerning his music and writings. His early operas, of which the first was produced in his 50th year, provoked a lengthy dispute between the old guard Lullistes and the forward-looking Ramistes. Hippolyte et Aricie (1733) was a stunning success, exciting strong passions because of the emphasis placed on music rather than plot. He was to write a further large number of successful musical dramas.

During this period Rameau found a pleasant haven at the home of the financier La Poupliniere, whom he served as ..

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