Marin Marais (1656 - 1728)

Marin Marais (31 May 1656, Paris ? 15 August 1728, Paris) was a French composer and viol player. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe for 6 months. He was hired as a musician in 1676 to the royal court of Versailles. He did quite well as court musician, and in 1679 was appointed "ordinaire de la chambre du roy pour la viole", a title he kept until 1725.

He was a master of the basse de viol, and the leading French composer of music for the instrument. He wrote five books of Pièces de viole (1686-1725) for the instrument, generally suites with basso continuo. These were quite popular in the court, and for these he was remembered in later years as he who 'founded and firmly established the empire of the viol' (Hubert le Blanc, 1740). His other works include a book of Pièces en trio (1692) and four operas (1693-1709), Alcyone (1706) being noted for its tempest scene.

Titon du Tillet included Marais in Le Parnasse françois, making the following comments on two of his pieces:

A piece from his fourth book entitled The Labyrinth, which passes through various keys, strikes various dissonances and notes the uncertainty of a man caught in a labyrinth through serious and then quick passages; he comes out of it happily and finishes with a gracious and natural chaconne. But he surprised musical connoisseurs even more successfully with his pieces called La Gamme' [The Scale], which is a piece de symphonie that imperceptibly ascends the steps of the octave; one then descends, thereby going through harmonious songs and melodious tones, the various sounds of music.

As with Sainte-Colombe, little of Marin Marais' personal life is known after he reached adulthood. Marin Marais married a Parisian, Catherine d'Amicourt, on 21 September 1676. They had 19 children together.

Facsimiles of all five books of Marais' Pièces de viole are published by Éditions J.M. Fuzeau. A complete critical edition of his instrumental works in seven volumes, edited by John Hsu, is published by Broude Brothers. Marin Marais est né à Paris le 31 mai 1656 au sein d'une famille modeste : ses parents sont Vincent Marais, cordonnier et Catherine Bellanger. Seul le frère de Vincent, prêtre, est d'un milieu social plus élevé.

En 1667, Marin Marais devient enfant de ch?ur à Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois où il rencontrera Michel-Richard Delalande (également enfant de ch?ur) et François Lalouette (vicaire). À seize ans, il quitte volontairement Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois et tente de se perfectionner auprès de Sainte-Colombe à la basse de viole qu'il a apprise lors de sa formation d'enfant de ch?ur. Celui-ci, se sentant peut-être menacé par le grand talent du jeune musicien lui dit au bout de six mois qu'il ne peut rien lui apprendre de plus ! Titon du Tillet rapporte que Marin Marais se serait alors caché sous le cabinet de travail installé dans le jardin de Sainte Colombe pour tenter de percer les secrets de ce maître mais aurait été découvert et chassé au bout de quelques temps par ce dernier.

Marais entre ensuite dans l'orchestre de l'Académie royale de musique dirigé par Lalouette - peut-être d'ailleurs grâce à l'influence de celui-ci. Le directeur de l'Académie royale de musique était alors Lully .

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