Germain Pinel

Germain Pinel
(b early 1600s; d Paris, early Oct 1661). French lutenist and composer. From a well-to-do Parisian family, he is first mentioned as master lutenist in 1630.

In 1645 he entered the service of Marguerite de Lorraine, Duchess of Orléans. In 1647 he was appointed lute teacher to Louis XIV, then nine years old, a post he held until 1656 when he became lutenist and theorbo player of the chambre, with a salary that put him among the highest-paid members of the royal music. In the same year he took part in Lully's Ballet de Psyché with his younger brother François and youngest son Séraphin, as well as Louis Couperin and others. He is listed among participants in further Lully ballets in 1657 and 1659. In 1658 he is described as composer and ordinary of the king's music.

Pinel wrote 78 dances and eight préludes non mesurés for lute, and one prélude non mesuré for theorbo (ed. M. Rollin and J.-M. Vaccaro, Paris, 1982). The exceptionally wide diffusion of his works in manuscript points to his stature as one of the greatest lute composers of the century (for sources see edition and Ledbetter). In their technical resourcefulness and broad paragraphing his préludes non mesurés provide the nearest lute equivalent to the harpsichord preludes of Louis Couperin.