In the summer of 2011, Drew Watson and William Carter were invited by the organizers of the biennial Balbec-Normand de Proust in Cabourg, France to present a concert at the gala dinner that ends the weekend-long celebration of French author Marcel Proust and his masterpiece In Search of Lost Time. In preparation for the event, they selected a group of songs by distinguished French composers of Proust's era, songs whose beautiful melodies and lyrics correspond to those of major Proustian themes: