Mélisande, Op. 109

• The manuscript of Bonis’s piano work Mélisande dated is 1922. It was first published by Alphonse Leduc in Paris in 1925,¹ It was marketed along with Bonis’s Phoebé, Viviane, Salomé, and Desdémona.² 
• Mélisande was dedicated to Paul Locard, ³ a music critic and author of books including Le piano (1948). 
• Belgian poet Maurice Maeterlinck’s play Pelléas et Mélisande was written in 1892 and first produced in 1893. The play inspired works by several composers at the turn of the century, including Faure’s incidental music, and Debussy’s opera Pelléas et Mélisande.

This piece was republished in 2003 in Femmes de légende, the first volume of Furore’s complete edition of Bonis’s piano works. 

1. “Catalogue: Piano seul,” Mel Bonis: Composer, Association Mel Bonis (2020), accessed June 3, 2021, https://www.mel-bonis.com/EN/Catalogue/. 
2. “5 Pièces pour piano, Op.109 (Bonis, Mel),” IMSLP, accessed June 3, 2021, https://imslp.org/wiki/5_Pi%C3%A8ces_pour_piano%2C_Op.109_(Bonis%2C_Mel).
3. “Catalogue: Piano seul,” Mel Bonis: Composer, Association Mel Bonis (2020), accessed June 3, 2021, https://www.mel-bonis.com/EN/Catalogue/.