War in Laces
The frail, dark-eyed young woman was vying for the greatest accolade in music—the hotly contested Prix de Rome for the year 1913. The field had been narrowed to five composers whose cantatas were to be evaluated by a vote of 36 members of the Academie des Beaux-Arts. One critic attending the final judging of the cantatas contrasted contestant Lili Boulanger with the rest of the competitors:
Perched over the piano like jockeys over the necks and withers of their horses, the intrepid composers spurred on their accompanists and desperately flailed away at the performers. Then the superiority of the eternal feminine became apparent to the audience. Compared to her hot-blooded colleagues—who apparently believed that “their hour had come”—the young girl, who had just as much reason to be nervous and impatient, showed the most perfect poise. She had a modest and unaffected attitude, her eyes lowered to the score.
Another witness reported that the three singers with the composer's sister Nadia at the piano, were directed by Lili Boulanger, standing nearby, “a slender shadow in a white dress, so simple, calm, serious and smiling as to be unforgettable.”
But as far as the judging was concerned, the outcome was by no means a sure thing. On the previous day, the preliminary vote by a panel of eight had given Lili Boulanger's cantata a scant majority of five votes. Now it was up to the 36 to decide. After considering the merits of the candidates and other prizes they had won, the members voted. Of the 36, 31 voted in favor of Lili Boulanger and her cantata on the basis of intelligence of subject, correctness of performance, sensitivity and warmth, poetic feeling, and intelligent, colorful orchestration.
With her personality, her poise, and her cantata, Lili Boulanger had set a precedent. In the 110-year history of the Prix de Rome, she was the first woman to win.

巾幗不讓須眉
這位身體虛弱、深色眼眼睛的年輕女子，正在競爭1913年度“普里克斯羅馬獎”。這項最偉大的音樂獎項競爭進入了白熱化階段。最后五位作曲家的康塔塔曲將由來自美術藝術研究院的36位成員評估。有一位參加最終評判的評論家將莉莉•布朗熱和其他作曲家做了如下對比：
如同騎士置身于馬脖和馬肩胛骨之上，無畏的作曲家們棲息于鋼琴旁，鼓舞著他們的伴奏者，竭力鞭策著表演家們。然后，一種永恒的女性的優勢向觀眾展現出來。和她的激動不已的同臺競技者(他們顯然認為“他們的時刻來到了”)相比，這位本來有足夠理由興奮和不耐煩的年輕姑娘，卻平靜如水。她謙遜而超脫，眼睛低垂，看著樂譜。
另一個目擊者說，有三個歌唱家，作曲家(莉莉)妹妹的娜迪亞坐鋼琴旁，莉莉•布朗熱領著他們，她站在一旁，“一條細長的影子，穿著白色的服裝，簡單，安靜，肅穆，微笑著，令人難以忘懷。”
但就評判本身而論，結果絕不是一帆風順的事情。在前一天，一個八人小組的最初投票中，有五票給了莉莉•布朗熱，這只是簡單多數。現在輪到36人投票了，在充分考慮選手們的優勢和他們已經獲得的獎項后，評委成員們開始投票了。結果31票支持莉莉•布朗熱，認為她的康塔塔曲題材睿智，詮釋準確，細膩熱情，有著詩一樣的情感和豐富多彩的編曲方式。
憑借她的人格魅力、她的鎮靜、她的康塔塔舞曲，莉莉•布朗熱開創了一個先例——在“普里克斯羅馬獎”110年的歷史中，她是第一位獲此殊榮的女性。