“It wasn’t long ago, maybe 15 years, that a French composer who had the audacity to adventure into the world of orchestral music, had no other way of having his music heard than by performing it himself and inviting all of his friends and some members of the press to come and listen. He could only dream of having his music heard by the public. Everyone would flee if they saw his name on the concert hall door. Societies of chamber music, numerous and flourishing as they were, only allowed the dazzling names of Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart and Mendelssohn onto their programmes, sometimes Schumann if they were feeling daring.” These were the remarks made by Camille Saint-Saens in September 1880 when speaking about the role that he hoped that the National Society of Music would have helping young composers to present their music in public. Whether it be one of Faure’s sonatas (1845-1924) or one of Pierne’s (1863-1937), as soon as a pièce was classed “instrumental”, its future appeared pre-determined.