The music of Lili Boulanger presents rich, expressive melodies in adventurous and unpredictable harmonic contexts. She is best known for her choir and orchestra works, in which religious themes are explored through lyrical word setting and bold, original orchestral colors. Boulanger was born into a musical family in Paris in 1893. Her father, Ernest, was a composer, and her older sister, Nadia (1887-1979), also went on to be an influential musician. In 1912, Lili became the first female composer to win the prestigious Prix de Rome, with her cantata Faust et Hélène. The work is similar in style to Debussy, with well-defined vocal lines and flowing orchestral textures. Her chamber works from the following years, song cycles and solo piano pieces, are engagingly melodic and inventive, such as the wistful “D’un Vieux Jardin” from Trois Morceaux pour Piano (1914). The outbreak of the First World War is reflected in the somber mood of her choral settings of Psalms 24, 129, and 130 (1916-17). Boulanger suffered from ill health throughout her life, and died of tuberculosis in 1918, aged just 24. Her sister, Nadia, championed Lili’s work and continued to perform her music, as organist and conductor, throughout her long career.