Suite en Trio, Op. 59
Mélanie Hélène Bonis

French composer Mélanie Hélène Bonis was born on January 21, 1858 in Paris, and her hundreds of pieces, to the delight of an increasingly large audience, have just recently achieved greater prominence through numerous performances of her work around the world.

Mélanie Hélène Bonis attended the Paris Conservatory, where she had Ernest Guiraud and Auguste Bazille as teachers. Jacques Maury, a professor at the Paris Conservatory, introduced her to César Franck, who allowed her to attend his organ class as a listener. Bonis was a classmate of Claude Debussy and, in 1879, she won a prize in piano accompaniment and a first prize in harmony, in 1880. She then won several composition awards that allowed her music to be performed in the main concert halls of Paris.

Mel Bonis joined the League of Composers and became its secretary, a rare case at the time for a woman. Mademoiselle Bonis was in many ways ahead of her time, enjoying critical but often misunderstood success. Bonis composed numerous works of varying instrumentations that were once appreciated in the French musical societies of the time. Her scores were widely published. While there were numerous female composers at the time who used a male pseudonym, she refused to masculinize her name, a rather rare decision at the time.

Mélanie Hélène Bonis composed the Trio Suite, Op. 59 for flute, violin and piano in 1903, an instrumentation very unusual in chamber music. In the tradition of French instrumental music, the piece is quite short and melodically charged. The opening Sérénade introduces a whole series of ideas that are further expanded in the brief development section, a technique also used by Eric Satie that became characteristic of contemporary French styles. A sumptuous sonority pervades Pastorale, the second movement. This evocative piece provides delightful interchanges between all the flute and violin, and the sound of early impressionist music is rather melancholic. In striking contrast to the previous parts of the work, the concluding Scherzo is replete with exquisite flirtation and subtle melodic phrasing. It all begins with some cheerful flute tunes, which are soon imitated by the violin. The middle section of this movement becomes passionately dramatic. The composition, however, concludes peacefully with the violin's heavenly sound, followed by the piano's coquettish departure.

Although chamber music was rare in France at the time, Mel Bonis devoted his entire life to creating chamber music for the flute in the late 19th century. Her connection with the renowned flutist Louis Fleury, who was married to her friend's daughter, offered continued encouragement and support. Fleury admired Mel Bonis's chamber music for flute and pushed her to compose it both in conversation and in letters.

Program Notes written by Cristian Martinez Vega