The turning point

Donald Macleod surveys the life of nineteenth century French composer Mel Bonis, with a focus today on two dates, both of which would mark significant events, 1881 and 1883.

Mel Bonis's name may not be a familiar one these days, but she produced somewhere in the region of three hundred compositions. There's no doubt that she was sensitive to gender discrimination. It's why she chose to publish her music under the name of Mel rather than her birth name Mélanie.

She was born in 1858 to parents of modest means. Her father worked for the watch company Breguet, still in business today, and her mother worked in the haberdashery trade. Neither of them held any particular interest in music, so it was down to young Mélanie to teach herself the play the family's piano. Her talent was recognised by a visiting friend who facilitated a meeting with one of the leading lights of the day, César Franck, an esteemed professor of organ at Paris's prestigious Conservatoire. Mélanie enrolled and showed great promise as a student, winning several end of year prizes. Her studies came to an abrupt end when her parents refused to give their consent to her marriage to a fellow student there, a poet, critic and singer, Amédée Hettich. Her life took a sharp turn two years later when, at the instigation of her parents, she married a twice widowed man of comfortable means. Thereafter her life as a composer had to take a back seat to the demands of raising five step-children and three of her own children with her husband, Albert Domange. Even so, she managed to continue to compose, producing music for her own instrument, the piano, and in almost every other genre as well.

Today Donald Macleod considers the means Mel Bonis had at her disposal to further her musical ambitions.

Étiolles, Op 2
Mariam Barbaux-Cohen, piano

Ophélie, Op 165
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Rumon Gamba, conductor

Piano Quartet No 1 in B flat major, Op 69 - II. Intermezzo. Allegretto tranquillo
Mozart Piano Quartet

Impromptu pour piano, Op 1
Laurent Martin, piano

5 pièces pour piano
No 1: Gai Printemps, Op 11
No 2: Romance sans paroles, Op 29
No 3: Menuet, Op 14
No 4: Églogue, Op 12
No 5: Papillons, Op 28
Diana Sahakyan, piano

Cello sonata in F major, Op 67 – III. Très lent
Thomas Blees, cello
Maria Bergmann, piano

Fantaisie, Op 72 "Septuor"
Tatjana Ruhland, flute
Florian Wiek, piano
Members of Stuttgart Royal Symphony Orchestra

Produced by Johanna Smith for BBC Audio Cardiff