Henley records that “Benjamin Godard's "Concerto Romantique" was first performed at a Pasedeloup Concert, Paris, 1876, by Marie Tayau on a Collin-Mézin violin with (what was then an innovation) E and A steel strings suggested by the maker, which rather points to the fact that he is attempting to get brilliance and clearness at the expense of purity." Steel strings are more popular today, though they tend to be used more by students. (More advanced players and professionals prefer synthetic or gut core strings wound with metal, and an all-metal E string.)