despite his lack of worldly success, koechlin was apparently a loved and venerated figure in french music, with his long flowing beard contributing to his patriarchal image. following his 1888 illness, the need to build up his strength led him to become an enthusiastic mountaineer, swimmer and tennis player. he was also an amateur astronomer and an accomplished photographer. he was one of the great nature-mystics among french composers, whose personal creed was pantheistic rather than christian. though never a member of the communist party he subscribed to its ideals, and in the later 1930s especially was much concerned with the idea of 'music for the people'.