Klaviermusik 6

The stylistic diversity of Mel Bonis' piano music, which can be explained by the long period of its composition (1888-1937), also gives the impression that she wanted to draw an outline of piano music in historical change. The historical reminiscences are transformed into contemporary sounds through her personal tonal language. The universality and value of her piano works form an important bridge from Romanticism to French post-Romanticism, and many of her piano pieces make a significant contribution to the development of French Impressionism through their harmonic inventiveness. “How could it happen that this composer has remained virtually unknown to this day? When playing through the present volume, you will be enthralled on almost every page by the mature quality and pure beauty of this music. …” (Piano News 2004)

The first volume of Bonis' 4-hundred works comprises three works: the „Pa-vane“, the „Six Valses-Caprice“ and „Le Songe de Cléopâtre“ („Cleopatra's Dream“).

Pavane opus 81/2
The „Pavane“ is one of a group of three pieces (Bourrée, Pavane and Sarabande) published by Demets between 1904 and 1909. They appeared simultaneously in a version for solo piano and an orchestral version. The manuscript of the Pavane for piano solo dates from 1903. Only the „Pavane“ was arranged for piano four hands. This version appeared in the magazine „L’Illustration“ on February 24, 1906, i.e. three years before the publication of the other versions by Demets. The Pavane is actually a solemn höfischer Schreittanz from the 16th century. Mel Bonis, like many other composers of the „Belle Epoque“ – draws on the past in keeping with the taste of the time–. The four-hour version of this dance „in the old style“ brings out the interesting polyphonic design of the composition extremely well. The piece lasts a good three minutes and is not technically demanding. In the final edition, the „Pavane“ is dedicated to Edouard Domange, the youngest son of Mel Bonis.

Six Valses-Caprice opus 87
It is an ensemble of six waltzes, some of which are rousing, some of which are full of feeling and some of which are very contrasting in character. Their accessibility and the relatively easy execution make them „successful pieces“ whose melodies are quickly memorized. The manuscript dates from 1910, the first edition was published by Poulalion in Paris in 1911. Mel Bonis dedicated the work to the „little Domanges“, i.e. the grandchildren of her husband Albert Domange.

Le Songe de Cléopâtre opus 180/1
This long piece of a much more complex and modern style is an exception to the composer's four-hour works. It is a reworking of an orchestral score into a piece for four hands. „Cleopatra's Dream“ is one of three orchestral pieces that we have combined under the title „Three Portraits of Women“. Here we find all the characteristics of the great works from the composer's mature period – her so personally colored, selected harmonies, her yearning rhythms, her sensuality, her occasionally recognizable tendency towards the exotic. „Le Songe de Cléopâtre“ was not published during Mel Bonis's lifetime, and we find no indication of a date of composition either on the copy of the four-hour version or on the manuscript of the orchestral version. In view of the modernity of the style, however, we can assume that the work was composed after the First World War. This piece, which lasts nine minutes, demands interpretative sensitivity and a solid technical level from the performers.