Satie wrote the score for "Le Fils des étoiles" during his short-lived involvement (1891–1892) as official composer and chapelmaster of the Mystic Order of the Rose + Croix. This esoteric-religious-artistic group, led by the flamboyant Péladan, aimed to "ruin realism, reform Latin taste and create a school of idealist art" in 1890s France. Particular reverence was paid to Symbolist art and to the music of Richard Wagner, whom the Rosicrucians valued above all composers. After the Comédie-Française in Paris rejected the script for "Le Fils des etoiles" in 1891, Péladan gained financial backing from Count Antoine de La Rochefoucauld to launch the annual Salon de la Rose + Croix (1892–1897) for the promotion of his work and ideas. The premiere staging of "Le Fils" would feature prominently in the first Rosicrucian salon.