Sainte colombe composer john

French composer and violist (c.1640–1700)

Jean (?) de Sainte-Colombe (c. 1640 – c. 1700) was a French composer and violist. He was a celebrated master of the viola da gamba and was credited (by Jean Rousseau in his Traité de la viole (1687))^[1] with adding the seventh string, tuned to the note AA (A₁ in scientific pitch notation), on the bass viol.

Life and works

Few details of his life are known; for example, neither the names of his parents, nor the precise dates of his birth and death. Research has revealed that his first name was Jean (other sources^{[full citation needed]} mention the name of Augustine of Autrecourt, Sieur de Sainte-Colombe) and also that he had as teacher the theorbo and viola player, Nicolas Hotman.

Sainte-Colombe performed publicly in the Parisian Salons, as did most of his colleagues and music masters such as Le Sieur Dubuisson.

According to Titon du Tillet,^{[full citation n}