Marin Marais (1656-1728) was a famed French composer and a favorite of the Versailles court under Louis XIV, the Sun King. In between fathering 19 children and entertaining the French royal family, Marais was famed for his operas and other compositions.  As a virtuoso of the viola da gamba, Marais’ fame spread throughout France. His remarkable technique allowed him to develop and advance the technical limits of the instrument. Between 1686 and 1725 Marais published five books of pieces for viol and continuo and several suites for two and three viols—a total of 596 pieces.

Marais was an early practitioner of the genre known as "program music", in which music is used to communicate a narrative to the audience. Sometimes, as in the case of Marais, the narrative is also provided in a written format to the audience; the composer wrote the text and the music for the “Bladder Surgery” piece in 1725, which appeared in his 5th book of gamba works. As Joseph Kiefer accurately observed: “The music successfully depicts the apprehension, fear, agitation, and other emotions of the patient as well as the mounting tension of the operation itself, building up to the climactic extraction of the stone.”

Meanwhile in Italy, Vivaldi was also composing program music. In 1720, Vivaldi composed the believed “Four Seasons”, depicting spring, summer, fall and winter through violin concerti.