family: a déclaration which detailed family circumstances and, among other things, ordered Chambonnières to pay 3000 livres to his mother, brother and sister as a repayment for the court position and other benefits provided to him by his father. 1632–1657: Rise to fame and subsequent career With support from his father, Chambonnières was probably working at the court since his late teens. By 1632 he had the title of gentilhomme ordinaire de la Chambre du Roy. He rose to great fame in the early 1630s, first as harpsichordist and then, a little later, as a dancer. His first public performance was in the Ballet de la marine, on 25 February 1635, before the King himself. In 1637 Chambonnières's salary was the same as his father's, and soon after the latter's death in 1642 Chambonnières became the only harpsichordist. His activities were not limited to providing music for the court, however. In 1641 he organized a series of paying concerts—perhaps the very first of such kind in France—which probably continued well into the 1650s. The earliest relevant notarial act, from 17 October 1641, specifies that ten musicians were to perform every Wednesday and Saturday at noon for a year. Both vocal and instrumental works were performed, but no details survive on the nature of the music or the instruments used. Chambonnières augmented his income also by teaching, eventually becoming an important influence on the subsequent development of the French harpsichord school, as well as composers abroad, such as Johann Jakob Froberger. Among his pupils were Jacques Hardel and Jean-Henri d'Anglebert, but he was particularly important for his contribution to the establishment of the Couperin musical dynasty. About 1650/51 Louis Couperin and his brothers gave a small private concert at Chambonnières's Le Plessis-Feu-Aussoux manor, to celebrate the older composer's name day. Their playing and their music (which was composed by Louis) so impressed Chambonnières that he extended all kinds of support to the Couperins and the three soon had active careers in Paris. Chambonnières's wife died in the early 1650s. He married his second wife Marguerite Ferret, daughter of a law court usher, on 16 December 1652. As the Fronde civil war went on, Chambonnières's career was still on the rise. He continued augmenting his income by giving concerts and teaching, and at one point considered going on a tour of Brabant. A series of concerts titled Assemblée des honnestes curieux was