ABSTRACT
The earliest French print explicitly to provide not only a continuo bass, but also figures, was the Pathodia sacra of the Dutch diplomat and musician Constantijn Huygens, a collection of sacred airs published by Robert Ballard in Paris in 1647. The first letter to Huygens already hints at long-necked lutes as expected instruments of accompaniment. This raises the question of when the theorbo appeared in France. Airs de cour as lutesongs were written almost exclusively for a nine- or ten-course lute, and this instrument is the strongest candidate for accompanying polyphonic airs de cour. The theorbo player replaced a flautist, the theorbo held to be the more essential of the two instruments. The strongest evidence for the early dissemination of the theorbo in France comes from the inventaires apres deces of Parisian musicians and instrument makers. Like continuo practice, the theorbo is reputed to have come late to France.
