Marin Marais

He studied composition with Jean-Baptiste Lully, often conducting his operas, and with master of the bass viol Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe for six months.

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.

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.

[2] His work The Bladder-Stone Operation,[3] for viola da gamba and harpsichord, includes composer's annotations such as "The patient is bound with silken cords" and "He screameth.