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Marin Marais (Born: 31 May 1656, Paris, France, Died: 15 August 1728, Paris, France) was a pupil of Lully and of the viol player Sainte-Colombe. He was hired as a musician in 1676 to the royal court of Versailles. He did quite well as court musician, and in 1679 was appointed "ordinaire de la chambre du roy pour la viole", a title he kept until 1725.
He was a master of the viola da gamba, and the leading French composer of viol music. He wrote five books of "Pièces de violes" for the instument, generally suites with basso continuo. 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 operas, "Alcione" (1706) being noted for its tempest scene.
He featured as a central character in the film "Tout les Matins du Monde", which is an imagined life of Sainte-Colombe, and Marais' music figured prominently in that film. One of his longer and most famous works, Sonnerie du Ste Genevieve du Mont de Paris (1720) featured in that film as well as an electronic version in the cult classic Liquid Sky. Facsimiles of all five books of "Pièces de violes" are published by Éditions J.M. Fuzeau.
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