Adagio en mi bémol mineur, op. 65

This is my second upload with music that I recorded to test the new sample set of Augustine (AVO). It is the model of the Aquincum organ built in 2000 in the Holy Spirit Church in the western Hungarian spa town of Hévíz – a three-manual instrument with thirty-six stops. Like many instruments built during that period, the organ has a slightly French flavour, but without being strictly limited to that region or even to a particular era, so that a wide repertoire can be adequately presented on it.

On 21 January 1858, 167 years ago today, the French composer Mélanie Bonis (1866–1945) was born in Paris. Even though it is admittedly not a round-number birthday, it is a most welcome occasion for me to present an organ work by this remarkable woman here today, whose music was almost forgotten for a long time, but has been gradually rediscovered in recent years (also here at Contrebombarde, thanks to the great activity of Andrew (Erzahler) in particular) – and rightly so. It is the fascinating Adagio in E-flat minor, op. 65, that, in my opinion, marks a highlight in Bonis's organ works, despite its limited dimensions, due to its motivic condensed and at the same time highly expressive musical language.

For more information about the composer and her work, see the first commentary on this recording!