
Concert Pianist
Donald Macleod traces Bosmans’s trajectory as a pianist, including becoming engaged to a fellow musician.
Donald Macleod traces Bosmans’s trajectory as a pianist, and her short-lived engaged to a fellow musician.
Henriëtte Bosmans seemed destined for a life in music from the moment of her birth, in 1895. Her father was the principal solo cellist in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra and her mother a piano teacher at the Amsterdam Conservatory. Bosmans developed a flourishing career and won international success with her Concert Piece for Violin and Orchestra. As a concert pianist she performed alongside conductors such as Ernest Ansermet and George Szell.
Bosmans didn’t follow her mother's Jewish faith. Nevertheless, her ancestry played a significant role in the events of her life. She lived through the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, when tens of thousands of Amsterdam Jews were deported to concentration camps, including her fellow citizen, Anne Frank. This week, Donald Macleod is joined by Bosmans expert Dr Helen Metzelaar and also Dr Laurien Vastenhout from Amsterdam’s Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide.
During the 1920s and 30s, Henriëtte Bosmans was making a name for herself as a concert pianist. She was regularly engaged to perform with orchestras and her chamber ensemble, toured the Netherlands. The intense pressure of her performing work led Bosmans to feel that she’d reached a crisis point as a composer and she sought the help of her neighbour, the composer Willem Pijper. From this point her compositions began to move away from the Late-Romantic sound of the 19th century, towards a more forward-looking style. In 1934 Bosmans became engaged to the violinist Francis Koene. However, tragedy struck, and Koene died that same year of a brain tumour. Years later, Bosmans confessed that she “died a little bit then” herself.
Arietta (from Two Recital Pieces)
Francien Schatborn, viola
Jeannette Koekkoek, piano
Trio for piano, violin and cello
Leonore Piano Trio
Im Mondenglanze ruht das Meer
Julia Bronkhorst, soprano
Maarten Hillenius, piano
Le diable dans la nuit
Julia Bronkhorst, soprano
Maarten Hillenius, piano
Concertino for piano and orchestra
Ronald Brautigam, piano
Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra
Ed Spanjaard, conductor
Produced by Luke Whitlock, for ѿý Wales
Last on
Behind the scenes with the women who make the ѿý
Introducing some of R3's women sound engineers, studio managers and technical producers
Music Played
-
Henriëtte Bosmans
Two Recital Pieces (Arietta)
Performer: Francien Schatborn. Performer: Jeanette Koekkoek.- ETCETERA : KTC-1255.
- ETCETERA.
- 10.
-
Doreen Carwithen
Framlingham Castle (Suffolk Suite)
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Hickox.- Chandos.
-
Henriëtte Bosmans
Piano Trio
Ensemble: Leonore Piano Trio. -
Henriëtte Bosmans
Im Mondenglanze ruht das Meer
Performer: Maarten Hillenius. Singer: Julia Bronkhorst.- GLOBE : GLO 5183.
- GLOBE.
- 7.
-
Henriëtte Bosmans
10 Melodies (No 5, 'Le Diable dans la nuit')
Performer: Maarten Hillenius. Singer: Julia Bronkhorst.- GLOBE : GLO 5183.
- GLOBE.
- 3.
-
Henriëtte Bosmans
Piano Concertino
Performer: Ronald Brautigam. Orchestra: Radio Kamerorkest. Conductor: Ed Spanjaard.- NM CLASSICS : 92095.
- NM CLASSICS.
- 3.
Broadcasts
- Tue 8 Mar 2022 12:00ѿý Radio 3
- Tue 15 Aug 2023 12:00ѿý Radio 3
Beethoven Unleashed – the box set
What was really wrong with Beethoven?
Composers A to Z
Who knew? Five eye-opening stories from Composer of the Week
Five reasons why we love Parry's Jerusalem
What is the strange power of Jerusalem which makes strong men weep?
A man out of time – why Parry's music and ideas were at odds with his image...
The composer of Jerusalem was very far from the conservative figure his image suggests.
Composer Help Page
Find resources and contacts for composers from within the classical music industry.