Gabriel Pierné was born in Metz in 1863. His family moved to Paris to get away from the Franco-Prussian War. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire. Pierné got first prizes for solfège, piano, organ, counterpoint, and fugue. He won the French Prix de Rome in 1882, with his work "Edith". His teachers were Antoine François Marmontel, Albert Lavignac, Émile Durand, César Franck (for the organ) and Jules Massenet (for composition). 