In music, Myrrha was the subject of an 1876 band piece by John Philip Sousa, "Myrrha Gavotte" and in 1901, Maurice Ravel and Andre Caplet each wrote cantatas titled "Myrrha". Caplet finished first over Ravel who was third in the Prix de Rome competition. The competition required that the candidates jumped through a series of academic hoops before entering the final where they were to compose a cantata on a prescribed text. Though it was not the best musical piece, the jury praised Ravel's work for its "melodic charm" and "sincerity of dramatic sentiment". Musical critic Andrew Clements writing for "The Guardian" commented on Ravel's failures at winning the competition: "Ravel's repeated failure to win the Prix de Rome, the most coveted prize for young composers in France at the turn of the 20th century, has become part of musical folklore."