Episode 476. Getting a Handle on Henriëtte Bosmans
The final official #Pride2026 episode on Countermelody introduces the Dutch composer, pianist, and critic Henriëtte Bosmans (1895 – 1952), a fascinating figure of extraordinary contrasts and contradictions. Both of Henriëtte’s parents were professional musicians; her father, a cellist in the Concertgebouw Orchestra, died while she was in infancy. Her mother, Sarah Bosmans-Benedicts was a professional pianist and piano teacher at the Amsterdam Conservatory as well as her daughter’s piano instructor. Bosmans received her initial renown as a concert pianist, also beginning to compose music, initially primarily instrumental works. Henriëtte led her life openly as a bisexual woman, numbering among her relationships long-standing love affairs with Dutch cellist, conductor, and freedom fighter Frieda Belinanfante (1904 – 1995) and French mezzo-soprano Noémie Pérugia (1903–1992). She was also engaged to the violinist Francis Koene (1899 – 1934), who died tragically and prematurely of a brain tumor. At his death, Bosmans ceased composing for a number of years. During the war, her mother’s Jewish heritage became a threat to both her and her daughter’s lives. In fact, Sara was deported and sent away to the Westerbork concentration camp. Through some mysterious and miraculous machinations (possibly involving the intervention of conductor Willem Mengelberg, with whom mother and daughter had previously collaborated), Henriëtte was able, against all odds, to secure her mother’s release. During the war, prevented from public appearances, Bosmans began performing in clandestine concerts known “Black Evenings,” private musical events which were often invaded by the SS. Henriëtte herself, however, was never apprehended, and through these performances was able to earn a meager living. In the closing days of the war, she began to compose again, including songs of patriotism and hope. Upon meeting Pérugia in 1948, Henriëtte began to write music again in earnest, almost all songs composed for Noémie, with whom she performed and recorded some of the most distinctive and original of this repertoire. In the final years of her life, Bosmans suffered grievously from stomach cancer, a diagnosis which, however, was kept hidden from her, and she died at the age of only 56 on July 2, 1952. Instead of being forgotten, these days Henriëtte Bosmans has re-emerged as one of the most important Dutch compositional voices. Todays’ episode features rare radio recordings from the early 1950s by Bosmans and Pérugia, as well as later recordings by some of the most renowned Dutch singers, including Bernard Kruysen, Tania Kross, Julia Bronkhorst, Rachel Ann Morgan, Irene Maessen, Bettina Smith, and Max van Egmond. It is entirely appropriate that we commemorate Henriëtte Bosmans especially now, on the 74th anniversary of her death, and at the end of Pride Month.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
All compositions by Henriëtte Bosmans. Poets and performers as noted.
Paul Éluard: Je ne suis pas seul. Noémie Pérugia, Henriëtte Bosmans [live 11.I.1951]
Heinrich Heine: Die heil’gen drei Kön’ge aus Morgenland. Julia Bronkhorst, Maarten Hillenius [2014]
Jacques Prévert: On frappe. Noémie Pérugia, Henriëtte Bosmans [live NCRV 11.I.1951]
J.W.F. Werumeus Buning: Verzen uit ‘Maria Lécina’ [excerpt]. Rachel Ann Morgen, Frans van Ruth [1993]
Hans Bethge [after Li-Tai-Po]: Liebestrunken. Tania Kross, Reinild Mees [live Virus 01.III.2012]
Adriaan Roland Holst: Dit eiland (Terugblik, No, 3). Irene Maessen, Maria Bon [2003]
John Henry Newman: Lead, Kindly Light [excerpt]. Elizaveta Agrafenina, Stijn Berkouwer, Dutch Student Chamber Orchestra (NESKO) [live 2022]
Fedde Schurer: Daar komen de Canadezen. Irene Maessen, Marcel Worms [live, n.d.]
Jacques Prévert: Pour toi, mon amour. Noémie Perugia, Henriëtte Bosmans [NCRV 11.I.1951]
Jacques Prévert: Chanson des escargots qui vont à l’enterrement. Max van Egmond, Thom Bollen [1981]
Raoul Ponchon: Rondel. Bernard Kruysen, Felix de Nobel [live 1972]
André Verdet: Le naufrage. Bernard Kruysen, Felix de Nobel [live 1972]
Paul Fort: Le diable dans la nuit. Bernard Kruysen, Felix de Nobel [live 1972]
Paul Fort: Complainte du petit cheval blanc. Cora Canne Meijer, Thom Bollen [1981]
Paul Fort: La chanson des marins hâlés. Noémie Pérugia, Henriëtte Bosmans [live NRU 27.VI.1950]
Paul Fort: Le regard éternel. Noémie Pérugia, Henriëtte Bosmans [live NRU 27.VI.1950]
Paul Fort: La chanson fatale. Noémie Pérugia, Henriëtte Bosmans [live NRU 27.VI.1950]
Marc-Antoine Désaugiers: Les médisants. Noémie Pérugia, Hans Henkemans [live NRU 14.X.1952]
Jules Jouy: Le chanson du chiffonier. Noémie Perugia, Henriëtte Bosmans [live NCRV 11.I.1951]
Olive Schreiner: The Artist’s Secret. Bettina Smith, Jan Willem Nelleke [2021]
Biblical text, adapted and translated into Latin: Ave Maria. Noémie Pérugia, Hans Henkemans [live NRU 14.X.1952]
