Marin Marais (French: [maʁɛ̃ maʁɛ]; born May 31, 1656, in Paris; died August 15, 1728, in Paris) was a French composer and musician who played the viol. He learned composition from Jean-Baptiste Lully and often conducted Lully’s operas. He also studied the bass viol for six months with Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe. In 1676, he began working as a musician at the royal court in Versailles. He was successful there and was given the title ordinaire de la chambre du roy pour la viole in 1679, a position he held until 1725.

Marin Marais was the father of Roland Marais (about 1685–about 1750), who was also a composer.

Career

Marin Marais was an expert in playing the viol and the most important French composer who wrote music for the instrument. He created five books of Pièces de viole (1686–1725), which usually included suites with basso continuo. These works were widely enjoyed in the royal court, and he was later praised for "founding and firmly establishing the empire of the viol" (Hubert Le Blanc, 1740). His other compositions include a book of Pièces en trio (1692) and four operas (1693–1709), with Alcyone (1706) known for its dramatic scene depicting a storm.

Titon du Tillet included Marais in Le Parnasse françois and commented on two of his pieces, Le Labyrinthe, possibly inspired by the labyrinth at Versailles, and La Gamme.

Little is known about Marin Marais' personal life after he became an adult. He married Catherine d'Amicourt, a woman from Paris, on September 21, 1676. Together, they had 19 children.

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.

Marais is credited with being one of the first composers to create program music. His work The Bladder-Stone Operation, written for viola da gamba and harpsichord, includes notes such as "The patient is bound with silken cords" and "He screameth." Although the title is sometimes mistaken for "The Gall-Bladder Operation," that type of surgery was not performed until the late 19th century. In the 17th century, urinary bladder surgery to remove stones was already a medical specialty in Paris.

Works

• Pieces for 1 and 2 viols, Book I (published on 20 August 1686 with only solo viols; first published with basso continuo on 1 March 1689)
• Pieces en trio pour les flutes, violon, et dessus de viole (published on 20 December 1692; dedicated to Marie-Anne Roland)
• Pieces for 1 and 2 viols, Book II (1701), including 32 short musical pieces titled "Les folies d'Espagne"
• Pièces de violes, Book III (1711)
• Pieces for 1 and 3 viols, Book IV (1717; includes the famous Suite d'un Goût Étranger)
• La gamme et autres morceaux de symphonie (1723; includes La Gamme en forme d'un petit Opéra, Sonate à la Maresienne, Sonnerie de Ste-Geneviève du Mont-de-Paris)
• Pièces de violes, Book V (1725)
• 145 Pieces for viol (ca. 1680); about 100 pieces were published in Books I–III

• Idylle dramatique of 1686 (music lost)
• Alcide (1693, created with Louis Lully)
• Ariane et Bacchus (1696)
• Alcyone (premiered on 18 February 1706)
• Sémélé (1709)
• Pantomime des pages (with Louis Lully; music lost)

• Te Deum (1701) celebrating the recovery of the Dauphin (music lost)
• Motet Domine salvum fac regem (1701) celebrating the recovery of the Dauphin (music lost)

Discography

• Sonnerie de Ste-Genevieve du Mont, Suite in C major, Suite in D major; performers: Nikolaus Harnoncourt, A. Harnoncourt, L. Stastny, H. Tachezi; recording label: Harmonia Mundi, France, catalog number HMC 90414; 1973, 1987.
• Les Folies d'Espagne, La rêveuse, L'arabesque, Le badinage, Sonnerie de Ste-Genevieve du Mont; performers: Jordi Savall (bass viola da gamba), Pierre Hantaï (harpsichord), Rolf Lislevand (theorbo); recording label: Alia Vox, 9821; 2002.
• Pièces de viole du Second Livre (1701) (Le Parnasse de la Viole, vol. II) – Jordi Savall et al. – Alia Vox AV 9828.
• Suite d'un Goût Étranger, Pièces de viole du Quatrième Livre (1717), (Le Parnasse de la Viole, vol. III) – Jordi Savall et al. – Alia Vox AVSA 9851.
• Pièces de viole du Cinquième Livre – J.Savall, C. Coin, T. Koopman, H. Smith, A. Gallet – Alia Vox AVSA 9872.
• Alcione, Tragédie lyrique, Jennifer Smith, Gilles Ragon, Philippe Huttenlocher, Vincent Le Texier, Véronique Gens, Les Musiciens du Louvre, conducted by Marc Minkowski, 3 CD Erato 1990.
• Alcione, Suites des Airs à joüer (1706), Le Concert des Nations, conducted by Jordi Savall, CD Astrée-Auvidis 1994.
• Sémélé, Tragédie lyrique, Shannon Mercer, Bénédicte Tauran, Jaël Azzaretti, Marc Labonnette, Le Concert Spirituel conducted by Hervé Niquet, 2 CD Glossa 2007. Le Diamant magazine Opéra, 10 de Classica, Diapason découverte.
• Ariane et Bacchus (1696), Suite d'orchestre, The Versailles Revolution, Indiana Baroque Orchestra, conducted by Barthold Kuijken, CD Naxos 2018.
• Sémélé, Ouvertures et danses, Montréal Baroque, conducted by Wieland Kuijken, SACD Atma baroque 2006.
• Premier Livre de pièces de viole, complete (1686), L'Achéron, François Joubert-Caillet, viola da gamba. 4 CD Ricercar 2016–2017. Diapason d'or.
• Deuxième Livre de pièces de viole, complete (1701), L'Achéron, François Joubert-Caillet, viola da gamba. 5 CD Ricercar 2019. Diapason d'or.
• Troisième Livre de Pièces de Viole, complete (1711), L'Achéron, François Joubert-Caillet, viola da gamba. 4 CD Ricercar 2021.
• Quatrième Livre de Pièces de Viole, complete (1717), L’Achéon, François Joubert-Caillet, viola da gamba. 4 CD Ricercar 2021.
• Cinquième Livre de pièces de Viole, complete (1725), L’Achéron, François Joubert-Caillet, viola da gambe. 3 CD Ricercar 2021 (release 11/2023).
• Alcione, Tragédie lyrique, Lisandro Abadie, Marc Mauillon, Cyril Auvity, Le Concert des Nations, conducted by Jordi Savall, 3 SACD Alia Vox 2020.
• Ariane et Bacchus (1696), Tragédie lyrique, Judith Van Wanroij (Ariane), Mathias Vidal (Bacchus), Véronique Gens (La Nymphe de la Seine, Juno), Marie Perbost (La Gloire, Corcine), David Witczak (Adraste), Les Chantres du Centre de Musique baroque de Versailles, Le Concert Spirituel, conducted by Hervé Niquet. 2 CD Alpha 2023. Diapason d'or.

References in film

• Marin Marais and his music were included in the film Tous les matins du monde (1991), which tells the detailed story of Monsieur de Sainte-Colombe. Marais’ music was an important part of the film, especially his longer piece Sonnery de Ste-Geneviève du Mont-de-Paris (1723). The actor Gérard Depardieu plays Marais as an older man, and Guillaume Depardieu plays him as a younger man. The film’s music was created by the violist Jordi Savall.
• A version of Sonnery played on a Fairlight synthesizer appears in the popular film Liquid Sky.
• The piece Le badinage is included in the film No Other Choice (2025) by Park Chan-wook.