As part of the Musique de la Chambre they played in the musical accompaniment to festivities and official events at the Versailles court.
In the 1670s, Charles II, who lived at Versailles during the British Interregnum, exactly matched the forces of Les Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi, as he had experienced them as Louis XIV’s guest, showing the influence by place and time of the French formation.
Meanwhile at Versailles, the Vingt-quatre Violons were combined when needed with the wind instruments of the Grande Écurie, the royal stables, which were used for hunting, war, and celebratory open-air occasions.
In 1656, under Louis XIV, the membership was augmented by a group of 16, later 21, string players called La Petite Bande.
The instrumentation of the Vingt-quatre Violons drove the five-part string writing that prevailed in 17th- and 18th-century France, especially the early-18th-century orchestral symphonies of Jean-Féry Rebel.