Dupré

Several lutenists and composers of lute music in seventeenth-century France bore the surname Dupré, although it is not known whether they were related to one another. The most important are Laurent Dupré, active around 1642 and who died on 23 October 1709, and Charles Dupré, documented between 1659 and around 1670.

Laurent was the son of Jeanne Marais and of another Laurent Dupré, who appears in the records from 1627 as a master of singing and lute. He worked as a lutenist and theorbo player. In 1671 he succeeded François Pinel as ordinaire de la musique du roi, although he did not fully receive the benefits of the post until May 1709. In 1683 he took part in the premiere of Lalande's Les fontaines de Versailles. On his death, his place at court passed to Robert de Visée.

Charles Dupré was a lute teacher and composer. Fourteen works are attributed to him, although it is now impossible to identify them. Some pieces in the manuscript collections of Vaudry and Milleran are attributed to a 'Dupré d'Angleterre', whose identification with Charles remains uncertain.