Of all the French court composers Marin Marais is unparalleled. He illumined the court of the most powerful king in seventeenth century Europe and has remained for three centuries as a monument, a source of elegant musical pleasure to musicians and music lovers alike.

In 1689 Marais published a premier in France: a “basso continuo” part for this first book. This is revolutionary work. Marais goes even further in his praise of the theorbo in his second book of Pieces de Viole (1701) mentioning the theorbo as being an instrument apt for performing the solo viol part.