Demachy is one of those composers of whom history tells us little. Nevertheless, he is one of the key figures of the French viola da gamba tradi- tion during the reign of Louis XIV. According to Jean Rousseau (Traité de la Viole, 1687), he was a pupil of Nicolas Hotman (1610–1633), like Saint-Colombe (ca.1640–ca.1700).
Demachy left a single collection of 8 suites for solo viol: Pièces de Violle en Musique et en Tablature, differentes les unes des autres, et sur plusieurs Tons. Elles contiennent deux livres, et sont les premieres qui jusques à present ayent paru au jour, published in Paris in 1685. This is quite a significant work, since it is the first French publication to present pieces for solo viol, a year before Marais published his first book.
This recording presents two suites in tablature (D major and minor) and two others in normal musical notation (G major and minor), which follow the classical form of the French dance suite at it existed toward the end of the 17th century