In the summers of 1911 and 1912, when French composer Lili (Juliette Marie Olga) Boulanger (1893 - 1918) was 16 years old, she spent several months at the family's house in Gargenville, outside of Paris. During these times, she was fervently studying for her first and second tries at winning the Prix de Rome in 1912 and 1913. She made it into the first competition, but unfortunately, she fell ill during the grueling compositional period, and had to drop out. In 1913, she did win the Prix de Rome and became the first woman ever to do so.

During her stays at Gargenville, despite her intense studies, she also wrote a few other pieces that did not have to do with her preparation for the competitions. One of these is Nocturne for flute or violin and piano (1911). Another is Le Retour (The Return), for voice and piano (1912). These two pieces are similar in at least one aspect: Boulanger utilizes in both of them the first notes of Claude Debussy's (1862 - 1918) theme from Prelude à l'après midi d'un faune. Boulanger had great respect for Debussy, and also for Hector Dufranne, a contemporary of Debussy's, to whom she dedicated Le Retour.

The song is based on a text by Georges Delaquys, a friend of Boulanger's and a member of the French Parnassians' school whose poetry became a response to the Romantic period. The Parnassians' poetry is objective and serene, almost disconnected from emotion. The text of Le Retour speaks of Ulysses returning to Ithaca after traveling for years. The poem's envoi, "Ulysse part la voile au vent, ver Ithaque aux ondes cheries..." (Ulysses leaves the veil of the wind, toward Ithaca to the dear waves...), comprises the first two lines, then repeats itself twice. The Debussy motif plays before the voice enters, and then repeats itself in various places. The piano's accompaniment at times sounds like rolling waves, and there is an ostinato bass line. As is typical in many of Boulanger's pieces, the song has a sadness to it that is quite moving. In the middle stanza, however, the song picks up tempo and becomes both animated and disturbing. It slows down again for the last stanza of the piece, and the text ends on the envoi, the same two lines in which it began. Also, as is typical of Boulanger, the work has a mystical quality to it that is often a feature of the Impressionists' music in general.

Le Retour was published by the Ricordi company in 1919, a year after Lili Boulanger's death. She had signed over the rights to the piece in January 1918, two months before she died. It is thought to be the last document that she could sign in her own hand. Also signed to the publishing company at this time were Boulanger's works, Soir sur la Plaine, Nocturne, D'un vieux Jardin, D'un Jardin clair, Attente, and Cortege.

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