The symphonic poem (a term interchangeable with tone poem) took a little longer to take off in France than it did in Germany and more Germanophile countries like Britain.

Liszt had developed the idea of self-contained pieces illustrating well-known literary episodes back in the late 1840s, but the concept had quickly become associated with the controversial label “Music of the Future” and the theories of Richard Wagner (who, by the way, never came near to writing one). Even Berlioz, France’s apostle of the new and a leading proponent of program music, worked out such ideas in things he referred to as “concert overtures”. 

However, once Wagnerism had firmly taken root in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War, French composers were quick to jump on the bandwagon. From the 1870s onwards they turned them out by the cartload. 

This deftly curated compilation from Palazetto Bru Zane is the perfect introduction, mixing a handful of popular warhorses with genuine rarities and intriguing works by rediscovered female composers.

The earliest music here is the Ouverture d’Arteveld by Ernest Guiraud, a French American composer...