Jean-Marie Leclair was born in Lyon. He was the son of a haberdasher and an aspiring artist. Leclair started his career at the Lyon opera as a dancer and violinist. In 1722, Leclair returned to Paris after a season with the Turin opera and recorded his first violin sonatas collection. The composer lived between Paris and Turin for the next two years, taking violin lessons from Giovanni Battista Somis, a Corelli student. By 1728, Leclair had joined one of the first public concert series, the "Concert Spirituel." Leclair's artistic heritage is mainly composed of a limited yet pleasing collection of violin compositions. His works, at their finest, represented simplicity paired with an earnest, thoughtful nature. "Leclair is the first composer who, imitating nothing, has produced something fine and fresh, something that is distinctively his own," the French poet and author Serré de Rieux was to write upon the publication of the Third Book of Sonatas for Violin, dedicated to the King, in 1734.