by Caiti Beth McKinney
Hello all! I want to share an absolutely lovely piece of music with you this month, written by the incredible Mel (Mélanie) Bonis (1858-1937). Bonis was a French composer active during the era known as the Belle Époque whose music is currently experiencing a resurgence, despite being almost completely lost until the 1990s. She was an incredibly prolific composer, writing more than 300 pieces of music ranging in genre from solo and chamber works to large-scale pieces for orchestra. Bonis’ life was a continuous tale of perseverance in the face of hardship and obstacles. In a clever effort to bypass misogyny in the music industry, Bonis signed her compositions using a shortened and more androgynous iteration of her first name and once was even congratulated in print as “Monsieur Bonis” by music critics.
During World War I, Bonis endured the hardships and tragedies many Europeans faced during the conflict but funneled her energies into work supporting the war effort, including taking children orphaned in the fighting into her home. She was a deeply spiritual woman, and many of her pieces were inspired by ancient sacred musical styles like plainchant.
I was recently reminded by a former student/colleague of the specific Bonis piece I would like to bring to your attention, Scènes de la forêt, Op. 123 (1928) for flute, horn, and piano. While originally written to include horn, the part is frequently borrowed by other instruments—I have seen performances with cello, English horn, and even viola substituting for the horn. The four-movement, fifteen-minute piece is evocative, ranging in mood from ethereal to triumphant. The Scènes are definitively representative of Bonis’ signature blending of Impressionistic and Romantic elements in her compositions and the play with color and texture to create vivid images in the mind of the listener. This chamber work is an outstanding addition to any recital program. I hope you enjoy listening to it and performing it!
