Obscure Music Monday: Bonis' Sonata for Cello and Piano

Mélanie Hélène Bonis, known as Mel Bonis, (Jan. 21, 1858 - March 18, 1937) was a French late Romantic composer. Bonis wrote an incredible amount of music for many genres.

Growing up in a strict Catholic household, Bonis' parents did not encourage her musical interests, though she did teach herself the piano. When she was twelve, a professor at the Paris Conservatory persuaded her parents to let her study music, and finally at 16 she entered the Conservatory. César Franck was one of her main teachers, and she was in the same class as Claude Debussy. While in school, she fell in love with a man her parents disapproved of, and she was taken out of school, and married off to a man 20 years older than her with five children. She ended up having three children of her own as well. She disappeared for a while, and returned to composing much later in life, using the more androgynous name "Mel." Her output was quite large, from orchestral and religious music to piano pieces and chamber works, like her Sonata for Cello and Piano.

This lovely piece is nearly unheard of, and sadly so. Bonis' writing is rich and passionate, and she makes the cello sing incredibly well across its entire range. The second movement is particularly tender and sweet, and the third movement is where the piano really gets to shine, as their part takes them all over the piano while trading off parts with the cello, displaying Bonis' incredible ensemble writing.