Even more than that of their male counterparts, the memory of nineteenth-century French women composers has been completely lost, and it is only through recent research and recording projects that we are beginning to rediscover them. These undertakings have made it possible to highlight the fact that, despite the social pressures exerted on women of this period (first and foremost marriage and motherhood), which represented as many obstacles to a career as a composer, a quantitatively and qualitatively important corpus of works by women composers survives. Largely excluded from opera – the crowning achievement of a career – women composers devoted themselves more to the genres of piano and chamber music. And although women were well represented in the harmony, counterpoint and composition classes at the Paris Conservatoire throughout the nineteenth century, it was not until 1913 that Lili Boulanger became the first woman to win a Premier Prix de Rome – that she nevertheless shared with the composer Delvincourt.