The French composer Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) was notably a professor of composition and, subsequently, head of the Paris Conservatory from 1905 to 1920. Very famous for his vocal and chamber works, he also composed competition pieces, including his Fantaisie, Op. 79, which he wrote in 1898 for the flute competition of the Conservatory and dedicated to Paul Taffanel, considered the founder of the French school of flute technique.