74451 Livre de guitarre

74451 Livre de guitarre
Henry Grenerin (c. 1625-c. 1700) is mentioned as a musicien de la chambre du Roi as early as 1641. It is recorded that he played in court ballets such as Ballet de Psyche in 1656 and Ballet de l'impatience in 1661. In 1668 Grenerin published Livre de theorbe contenant plusieurs pieces, a collection of music for theorbo with instructions on how to play continuo. His book of guitar tablature, Livre de guitarre (Paris, 1680), was dedicated to the Prince de Conty. The Prince de Conty had been one of the leaders of the "frondes" which was a revolt against Anne of Austria (the mother of Louis XIV) and her minister Cardinal Mazarin. The story of this rebellion is told in a most compelling manner by Voltaire in his book The Age of Louis XIV. This series of uprisings was over by 1654, and one could presume that the Prince de Conty was on good terms with the royal family by the time Grenerin dedicated the book to him in 1680.