Hedwige Chrétien was born in Compiègne and came from a musical family, including her maternal grandfather, Jules Ternizien, a professional violinist. She studied at the Paris Conservatoire under teachers like Louise-Aglaé Massart, César Franck, Charles Lenepveu, and Ernest Guiraud. In 1886, she received an award from the Society of Composers of Music for her lyric poem, L’Année, and published a Grand Solo for tenor trombone and piano, which began her lasting interest in wind and brass instruments. From 1875 onward, she won several awards in different musical areas. In 1887, Chrétien married Paolo Gennaro, a flautist and fellow student, and they had at least two children, Marcel and Cécile, who both became musicians. She taught music theory at the conservatoire for a short time but left in 1892 to focus on composing. Throughout her career, she wrote about 250 works, including chamber and orchestral pieces such as the lost Oriental Ballet, two comic operas named La Cinquantaine and Le Menuet de l'Impératrice, and around one hundred piano pieces. In 1920, her interest in the organ returned, and she wrote many works for this instrument. Chrétien also composed over 70 carefully made mélodies, known for their confident use of harmony and form. She found inspiration in France's medieval history, which influenced her music. Much of her work is preserved today in the Bibliothèque nationale in France and the Women Composers Collection at the University of Michigan. Her contributions made a lasting impact as a female composer with a rich and varied body of music.