The French Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764) wrote three books of Pièces de clavecin for the harpsichord from 1706 to 1727. It is in the second one - Pièces de clavessin, published in 1724 - that Les Cyclopes can be found as the eighth movement of this Suite in D major.

Here, the subject of the work is centred on one-eyed giants as portrayed in Homer’s Odyssey. It follows the pure tradition of the French suite as being imitative and characterful. Due to its innovative form, it reveals the experiments of Rameau as a musical theorist whose writings continue to influence musical thinkers over three centuries later.