Jean-Marie Leclair (1697–1764) was a French Baroque violinist and composer. He is considered to have founded the French violin school. He was born in Lyon, but left to study dance and the violin in Turin. Leclair had returned to Paris in 1723, where he played at the Concert Spirituel, the main semi-public music series. His works included several sonatas for flute and basso continuo. Named ordinaire de la musique by Louis XV in 1733, Leclair resigned in 1737 after a clash with Jean-Pierre Guignon over control of the musique du Roi.
Leclair was then engaged by the Princess of Orange – a fine harpsichordist and former student of Handel – and from 1738 until 1743, served three months annually at her court in Leeuwarden, working in The Hague as a private maestro di cappella for the remainder of the year. He returned to Paris in 1743. His only opera Scylla et Glaucus was first performed in 1746 and has been revived in modern times. From 1740 until his death in Paris, he served the Duke of Gramont, in whose private theatre at Puteaux were staged works to which Leclair is known to have contributed.
In 1758, Leclair purchased a small house in the northern part of Paris, where he was found stabbed to death in 1764.
Leclair was renowned as a violinist and as a composer. He successfully drew upon all of Europe’s national styles. Many suites, sonatas, and concertos survive along with his opera, while some vocal works, ballets, and other stage music are lost.