Her father said it was inappropriate for a woman of her class to study at the Paris Conservatoire (following assessment and the offer of a place at the age of 10) and so employed the Conservatoire professors to teach her privately.
Her works were performed by the Société nationale de musique and in England and America where she found fame. Her style is aligned with contemporary nationalist composers Saint-Saëns and Gounod. Whilst she composed nearly 200 works, sadly her fame today relies almost entirely on her Flute Concertino composed in 1902.
A fuller biography can be found here:
https://www.musicbywomen.org/composer/cecile-chaminade/
Today’s choice sets the movements from the Ordinary of the Mass alongside a setting of the O salutaris hostia by St Thomas Aquinas, and is scored for two voices and organ:
The Listening Project Blog 