During his lifetime Louis Ganne (1862-1923) was regarded as one of the leading composers of lighter music in France. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where Massenet taught him composition and César Franck taught him the organ. He had scarcely left the Conservatoire when he started to make a name for himself as the composer of marches, waltzes and mazurkas. For many years he was in charge of music at the Monte Carlo Casino, where he directed a very popular concert series, Les Concerts de Louis Ganne. He also wrote a number of operettas and ballets, but nowadays he is remembered most for a single piece, Marche lorraine (1892, [12]), using an old folk-song from the district. During the Second World War, Marche lorraine assumed a special significance as a battle song for the Free French and their allies.
