Performance editions of Air Vaudois pour Flûte et Piano, Op. 108 and Andante et Allegro pour Flûte et Piano, Op. 133 by Mélanie Bonis

Abstract

Mélanie Bonis was born into a Catholic petit bourgeois family in Paris in 1858. Although her parents were not extremely supportive of her studying music, they did allow her to her pursue piano performance and composition, eventually agreeing to enroll her at the Paris Conservatoire when she was 18. It was during her time at the Conservatoire that she began to use the name “Mel” when signing her works. Her oeuvre, mostly unpublished, was all but forgotten until the late 1990’s. Bonis’ flute and piano works are beginning to be recognized, with the recent upsurge in performances of her Flute Sonata, Op. 64. Bonis’ short flute and piano compositions are worthwhile in linking Romanticism and Impressionism, filling a void in flute repertoire with respect to both their difficulty level and length. Works written by women are also lacking. Her short flute and piano works contain both lyrical and technical elements, and are comparable to character pieces. Each of these short pieces can be performed in approximately two to six minutes. Performance editions of Air Vaudois and Andante et Allegro were created through the use of theoretical analysis. Edits were made in the areas of: layout, clarification, tempo, dynamics, and phrasing. Annotations indicating the edits made to the works are included. Theoretical analyses used in creating the performance editions include: themes and thematic material, general form and sectional divisions, key and pitch centers, pitch centricity, linear analysis, consonance versus dissonance.