In a survey of this kind, which must of necessity be condensed, it seems essential to limit the period under review, as otherwise the field becomes too large and the subject-matter unwieldy. I am going to try to avoid this by deliberately restricting this paper to a review of what seem to me to be the most significant and the most interesting trends in post-war music in France, and I therefore propose to deal only with a small number of composers whose contribution seems to be outstanding for one reason or another. Those with whom I am more particularly concerned are, of course, the younger or post-war generation. But before coming to them I cannot avoid saying a few words about one or two of their elders who were already established before the war but who are still important contemporary figures. Among these are some who made their début during or immediately after World War One, but who today have reached maturity and are still in the front rank of French musicians. Prominent among these are, of course, such well-known figures as, for example, Milhaud, Honegger, Auric and Poulenc who are still fully creative, but whose work, even in its latest aspects, is too familiar to you for me to dwell on here.