Prière Op 105

Mélanie Hélène Bonis, known as Mel Bonis (b. 4th ar Paris, 21 January 1858 – d. Sarcelles (Val-d'Oise), 18 March 1937)

Prolific French postromantic composer, with more than 300 pieces,for piano solo and four hands, organ pieces (30), chamber music, choral music, a mass, and works for orchestra.

Bonis studied for a time at the Paris Conservatoire with César Franck and Ernest Guiraud.  Although her formal education ended prematurely, her extant correspondence reveal that she kept in communication with many organists and musicians of her day.  She did not work professionally as an organist, but she had access to the Cavaillé-Coll organ at Notre-Dame d’Étretat and the organ of Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul in Sarcelles, next to their family home.  Her works were published in collections such as the 1912 L’Organiste Parroissial and the 1912 edition of Les Maîtres Contemporains de l’Orgue.

Due to the difficulties encountered by women who wished to compose, she adopted the more androgynous form of her first name "Mel".

At the Conservatoire she met and fell in love with Amédée Hettich, a poet setting some of his poems to music. Unfortunately, her parents disapproved of the match, and arranged for her to marry the businessman Albert Domange, 25 years her senior, after which for a period she disappeared into domesticity and had three children.

Some years later, she met Hettich again, who encouraged her to return to composition, after which her career took off. However she also began an affair with Hettich, which led to the birth of an illegitimate child, Madeleine. The child was put into the care of a former chambermaid, whilst Bonis devoted all her energies to composition, becoming a member of the Société des compositeurs de musique and a published composer with Éditions Leduc.

Her music in all forms is available here;
https://www.mel-bonis.com/Copie de oeumbpaypal.htm

Thanks to Dominique Dantand for making this music available to me.