3 October 2025

Scoring: 3fl.1ob(+CA).2clt.2bn-2hn-2tpt-timp.perc(suspended cymbal)-2hrp-strings

Duration: 5’

Date: Originally composed as a solo piano work, published 1909; orchestral version - date unknown.

Availability of performing materials: Furore Verlag*

I was browsing through the Furore catalogue looking for orchestral repertoire for a French programme with double wind and no heavy brass when I spotted Ophélie by Mel Bonis. I was able to find several professional recordings online and I was quickly attracted to the late Romantic language of Bonis’s writing. A series of serendipitous, programmatic connections ensued: I found that Bonis was in the same cohort at the Paris Conservatoire as Pierné (as well as Debussy) who was also on the programme. Bizet and Fauré, the two other composers in the concert had earlier connections to the Paris Conservatoire but, perhaps more interestingly, all four composers had struggled to make time to compose as they tried to fulfil various professional and domestic obligations. The programme theme became French Connections.

The score was available to order most cheaply from L’Association Mel Bonis online shop at EUR10+p&p. The Association offers a range of resources including biographical information (Bonis led a very interesting life), photographs, videos, documents and archives. It also produces a concert listing which demonstrates the great frequency and wide geographical reach of Bonis’s music. The Association kindly included the performance of Ophélie with Hope Metropolitan Concerts that I conducted on 17 May 2025 in Liverpool. Parts were hired from Furore Verlag at a cost EUR130.

Despite being quite short, the score required quite a lot of preparation. There are frequent changes of time signature and although the basic pulse stays the same for much of the work there are numerous rubato markings, and the various sections need to be clearly articulated and the transitions worked out. The orchestration is luscious, and Bonis often uses additive instrumental writing to mix the colours and this requires marking up cues for some less than obvious entries (e.g. b. 34 Flute 3; bb. 63 & 64 Trumpets 1 & 2).

The density of the writing and the frequent time signature and dynamic changes meant that the first run through was quite messy, and it was difficult to convey the shape of the piece. We had some debate about what Bonis meant by the directive en dehors (e.g. b. 9 Oboe) which, translated literally into English means ‘outside’ with a connotation of being at a distance (therefore quieter?) but in French music theory means to make more prominent. With familiarity the ensemble improved quickly. The leader of the orchestra messaged me excitedly one day to say that the professional orchestra that one of his sons plays with were giving a performance on BBC Radio 3. Players began to enjoy the rich timbres of their own parts, the shifting, orchestral colours and to make sense of the rubatos. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the funds to run to two harps but were very lucky to have an excellent student who was able to put in the essentials from both parts, and this was more than acceptable in performance.

Despite a small box office on the night of the concert - probably due to a clash with Eurovision (it is BIG in Liverpool) and hopefully not the prospect of some little known repertoire on the programme - there was a sense that the audience was really drawn into the music evidenced by a long moment of stillness between the gentle, closing offbeats in Timpani and Double Bass and the subsequent applause.

I’m keen to programme this work again and to explore more repertoire by Bonis.

*Furore Verlag is a German publisher that was founded in 1986 to make music and books written by and about women more widely available. The catalogue currently lists over 2,000 compositions by approximately 170 women from Europe, America, Asia and Australia ranging from Francesca Caccini (b.1587) to Chia Meng Lin (b.1978).