Sacred Dance

Until recently, the name Mel Bonis was completely unknown to performers and music lovers alike. Thanks to the work of musicologists Eberhard and Ingrid Mayer, the French composer’s remarkable works have been rediscovered in recent years. Bonis was one of the first women to be admitted to the composition class at the Conservatoire de Paris, where she studied under such masters as César Franck, Charles Koechlin and Ernest Guiraud. She left behind some 200 works, including her Danse sacrée, composed in 1898 as a slow, contemplative procession reminiscent of an ancient rite.