Obscure Music Monday: Galos' La Baie Des Anges

Giselle Galos, a French composer whom we know little of, is someone we've covered works of before on Obscure Music Mondays, but today we look at her La Baie des Anges, a beautiful work for solo piano. Galos, sometimes listed as Galas, was a mysterious figure who little is known about. Her works were generally published as C. Galos, with only later research discovering references to Mademoiselle Giselle Galos giving us a true name and gender of the composer.

Galos' works were very commonly salon pieces that fit the pianist's hands well. While little is known of her, we do know that she was an active pianist and that shows in her accessible writing. It is believe that Galos died in 1903, giving this work, first published in 1924, an "In Memorium" marking.

"La Baie des Anges" (The Bay of Angels), located in Nice, France, is the inspiration for this lovely Nocturne. The work begins with a beautiful sound that is reminiscent of the Nocturnes of Chopin, however, we quickly move to a tonal structure that shows the influences of more modern music. When compared to Galos' other works, it's clear that this was a later work as her harmonic language continued to develop.