Canteloube's acquaintance with the folk songs of Auvergne began with his birth in Annonay, about 50 kilometers south of Lyon. During walks through the mountains he heard both dance and vocal music, which entranced him even as a child. Late in life he wrote, "I lived at that time deep in the country in a region where the country folk would still willingly sing." When he asked them to sing, they did so without hesitation. As an adult he returned to the Auvergne to make recordings of folk songs.

Not long after meeting Vincent d'Indy (1851-1931) in 1902, Canteloube moved to Paris to study at d'Indy's independent conservatory; later he began assembling folk songs of the Auvergne and composing harmonizations for them. From 1923, Canteloube pursued the collection of folk songs from numerous regions of France with increasing intensity. Most of these were harmonized and set for a variety of ensembles, including voice with either piano or orchestra accompaniment, and a cappella arrangements for choir. His Chants d'Auvergne have become a staple of the concert repertoire.

To the end of his life, Canteloube championed through articles and lectures the idea of "regionalism" and its use of folk song material. When asked how he justified dressing "ancient" tunes with modern orchestra accompaniment, Canteloube responded: "Just because the peasant sings without accompaniment, that is not sufficient reason to imitate him. When the peasant sings at his work...there is an accompaniment which surrounds his song which would not be felt by those whose interest is purely academic. Only poets and artists will feel it...." Canteloube rationalized his inconsistencies by the typical invocation of the separation between mind and heart. All the songs of Chants d'Auvergne are in that region's langue d'Oc and many feature passages of nonsense syllables.

Canteloube's mastery of the elements of composition is clear throughout the Chants d'Auvergne. In the "Pastrouletta" we find a slow, but regular, voice part over a swelling accompaniment that comes forward between verses. The fourth of the set, "Pastouro, sé tu m'aymo" (Shepherdess, if you love me), stands out in its bouncy rhythms and rapid declamation. Accompanimental figures in the orchestra swirl about as the shepherdess' suitor offers her a dress and flowers in exchange for her love. Not surprisingly, "Lou Coucut" (The Cuckoo) begins with imitations of the Cuckoo's call in the orchestra. The voice part is among the liveliest of the set. "Lo fiolaire" (The Spinner) begins with rumbling low strings before the piano enters with a "spinning" motive. Instruments heterophonically follow the vocal line as the shepherdess explains how, when her shepherd asked her for a kiss, she gave him two. Woodwind sighs open the last of the Chants d'Auvergne, "Brezairola" (Lullaby), in which the narrator complains, quietly, that the baby will not go to sleep. As the song proceeds in regularly shaped phrases, the orchestra accompanies the new voice part of the second verse with the voice line from the first and begins rocking in the third, as the baby falls asleep.

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