International Women's Day

Synopsis

As today is International Women's Day, we thought we’d tell you about a wonderful French composer you may or may not have heard of before.

Mélanie Hélène Bonis, or Mel Bonis as she preferred to be called, was a prolific composer of piano and organ works, chamber music, art songs, choral music, and several orchestral pieces. She studied at the Paris Conservatoire, where her teachers included César Franck. She was born in 1858 and died in 1937, so her lifetime spanned the age of Hector Berlioz to Alban Berg.

In the 1890s, Bonis reconnected with her first love, a man she had met while still a student, who had encouraged her musical talent. So she left her husband, who did not encourage her, to devote herself full-time to her music. Initially performed and admired in Paris, after World War I her music was neglected, and she became bedridden from arthritis. Despite everything, she continued to compose up to the time of her death at 79.

Among her works are seven piano portraits of women, collectively titled Femmes de Légende, or Legendary Women — some of which, like Salomé, she arranged for full orchestra.

Music Played in Today's Program

Mel Bonis (1858-1937): Salomé; Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse; Leo Hussain, conductor; Bru Zane BZ-2006

On This Day

Births

• 1714 - German composer Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (the third son of J.S. Bach), in Weimar

• 1904 - Greek composer Nikos Skalkottas, on the island of Euboca

• 1911 - American composer Alan Hovhaness, in Somerville, Massachusetts

Deaths

• 1869 - French composer Hector Berlioz, 62, in Paris

• 1957 - Swiss composer Othmar Schoeck, 70, in Zurich

• 1961 - British conductor and arranger Sir Thomas Beecham, 81, in London

• 1983 - English composer and conductor Sir William Walton, 80, in Ischia

Premieres

• 1752 - Handel: oratorio Jephtha, in London (Julian date: Feb. 26)

• 1896 - Rachmaninoff: symphonic fantasy The Rock, in Moscow (Gregorian date: Mar. 20)

• 1898 - R. Strauss: tone-poem Don Quixote, in Cologne, Wüllner conducting

• 1902 - Sibelius: Symphony No. 2, by the Helsinki Philharmonic, with the composer conducting

• 1903 - Enescu: Rumanian Rhapsodies Nos. 1 and 2, in Bucharest, with the composer conducting

• 1934 - Piston: Concerto for Orchestra, by the Boston Symphony, Serge Koussevitzky conducting

• 1954 - Stravinsky: Three Songs from William Shakespeare, at an Evenings on the Roof concert in Los Angeles conducted by Robert Craft

• 1956 - David Diamond: Symphony No. 6, by the Boston Symphony, Charles Munch conducting

• 1957 - Xenakis: Pithoprakta, in Munich

• 1979 - Rihm: opera Jakob Lenz, in Hamburg at the Opera stabile (Staatsoper)

• 1991 - Daniel Asia: At the Far Edge for orchestra, by the Seattle Youth Symphony, Ruben Gurevich conducting

• 2000 - Karen Tanaka: At the Grave of Beethoven for string quartet, in London, by the Brodsky Quartet

• 2000 - John Tavener: The Lord’s Prayer, in Guildford (England), by the Tallis Scholars