Biography
Marin Marais was born on 31 May 1656 in Paris, the son of a shoemaker. He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, whose operas he later helped direct, and spent several months studying the viol with Sainte-Colombe. In 1676 he was engaged as a musician at the court of Versailles, and in 1679 he was appointed 'ordinaire de la chambre du roy pour la viole', a post he held until 1725; he also worked at the Paris Opéra, becoming its orchestra director in 1706. As the leading French composer for the bass viol, he published five books of 'Pièces de viole' between 1686 and 1725, alongside four tragédies en musique for the Paris Opéra, among them 'Alcione' (1706). Marais died in Paris on 15 August 1728.
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