Le voyage dans la lune (operetta) but due to the need to raise the necessary money he did not take up the project. Eventually Albert Vizentini, the new directeur of the Gaîté, took up the idea, and Offenbach's contribution was limited to that of composer. Albert Vanloo and Eugène Leterrier, in association with Arnold Mortier (columnist at Figaro), wrote the libretto. They were hoping for a repeat of the success of the novels of Jules Verne (another, the novel "Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingt jours", had been adapted for the stage at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin by Verne himself in 1874) and the
Les Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi be substituted for a basse de violon; the Petite Bande also included several viol players. The instrumentation of the "Vingt-quatre Violons" greatly influenced the five-part string writing that prevailed in 17th and 18th century France, especially the early-18th-century French orchestral symphonies of Jean-Féry Rebel, etc. Les Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi Les Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi (in original orthography "Les Vingt-quatre Violons du Roy") were a famous five-part string orchestra at the French royal court, existing from 1626 to 1761. "Les Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi" (Engl. "The King's 24 Violins") were founded 1626 under Louis XIII. As part of the "Musique