Pierre Villette (1926-1998) was a contemporary of Pierre Boulez at the Conservatoire National Superieure de Musique in Paris, where he studied with Maurice Duruflé. He followed a different path than Boulez, often basing his compositions on early music, including Gregorian chant, which he learned as a chorister at Rouen Cathedral. He was considerably influenced by the harmonies and styles of Messiaen, Poulenc and Stravinsky, as well as jazz. Most of his music was composed for the church and consists mainly of shorter motets, but he also wrote a larger Messe en français, premiered in 1981. The Hymne á la Vierge, a setting of a text by Roland Bouhéret (1930 - 1995), has been described as “melodious, homophonic and chromatic, with some delicious harmonies in the four-bar coda.” It is Villette’s best-known work, having been performed often, including during the annual Service of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge.