Henriëtte Bosmans - Cello Concertos & Poème

[Ilja]

New from cpo, Henriëtte Bosmans' two cello concertos and her Poème for cello and orchestra in fine performances by Raphael Wallfisch with the BBC Scots under Ed Spanjaard. It's a really pleasant surprise.

The Poème is the earliest work of the three and still a substantial piece, an orchestration of Bosmans' Second Poème for Cello and Piano. Not particularly Poème-ish, it feels more like a rhapsodic Konzertstück to me. The First Concerto (1922) is the largest dish being served here, a boisterous piece that received more than a bit of praise in its time. Fairly conservative for the period, but ably put together. Finally, the Second Concerto (1923) is shorter, but also more contemplative and elegiac, and shows an individuality that is not as evident in its predecessor. The finale also contains a proper earworm, and after a first listen I'd rate it the best and most original work of the three.

All in all, a delectable set – and I don't even like cello concertos all that much in general.

[Alan Howe]

I'd wondered about this release. Still not sure...

[Ilja]

Here they are on YouTube.

Don't worry, they're really good, and not nearly as neo-classical leaning as Bosmans' just slightly later works (such as the Piano Concertino of 1928). And having heard this, I think this is much more her natural style than those much thornier, later works. Although you can trace some influences (a bit of Ravel here, some Rimskyan orientalism there) she really succeeds in moulding it all together into something her own. I just listened to the Poème again, and my opinion of it has only gone up. The honestly outstanding performance helps of course, but it is also really good music regardless.

As indicated, she shifted to a much more chromatic, neo-classical style only a few years later. At the time, there was definitely a certain pressure among Dutch musicians and intellectuals to abandon late romantic, German forms. There are similar shifts of style in the music of Jan van Gilse, Juliius Röntgen and even the steadfastly conservative Kees Dopper, although never quite as extreme.

[Wheesht]

Thanks for the heads up. As a sucker for cello concertos I will likely be getting this. Interesting that it is available as a download first, is this new CPO practice?

[Ilja]

No, they've been doing this for a while; sometimes the YouTube upload shows up before we even know of the release.

[eschiss1]

One further thing- this same conductor already conducted the (1923...) Poëme on a Brilliant Classics compilation called "Cello Concertos from the Netherlands", with Schiff I think. (Brilliant Classics claims it was composed posthumously in 1962 - I've emailed them to inquire..., but https://webshop.donemus.com/action/front/sheetmusic/7549/Po%C3%A8me gives a date of 1923, and I am guessing from other stuff that the cello and piano original is from 1919.)

[eschiss1]

A recording of her 1919 cello sonata came out around the same time on cpo which should be discussed separately. Listening to it now over Amazon. I'll probably start a separate thread later but will at least summarize that the opening movement seems quite lovely and mostly very Romantic to me.