Henriëtte Bosmans (1895-1952)
Concertos
Poème for cello and orchestra (1923)
Lead, kindly light (1945)
Concertstuk for violin and orchestra (1934)
Second Concerto for cello and orchestra (1923)
Gemma Rosefield (cello): Benjamin Nabarro (violin): Rowan Pierce (soprano)
BBC Philharmonic Orchestra/George Vass
rec. December 2025, Philharmonic Studio, Media City, Salford
Text included
Resonus RES10369 [64]

Henriëtte Bosmans is appearing more often on disc these days, and there is, in fact, some duplication between this disc and CPO’s, released at almost the same time, which features both the Poème and the Cello Concerto No.2 played by Raphael Wallfisch with the BBC Scottish Symphony and Ed Spanjaard [555694-2] and which I’ve not heard.

I tend to have a problem getting to grips with her sense of form. It’s immediately a concern in the quirky scheme of the Poème for cello and orchestra which, after a brief and vigorous orchestral introduction, plunges the cello into an almost immediate cadenza. True, she summons up atmospheric writing and there are plenty of contrasts of pacing in this three-movements-in-one piece before the calming coda with its romantic swell, but there is still something elusive about it.

The Concertstuk for violin and orchestra is another 3-in-1 movement work written over a decade later, in 1934. It’s a turbulent work, both for the orchestra and for the declamatory soloist, here the excellent Benjamin Nabarro, that sets up an evocative tapestry of considerable martial intent. The final section sees the guttural soloist in strongly accented writing fighting a brassy, dramatic close. Yet again her rhapsodic, ‘spontaneous’ sense of form requires work from the listener, and you won’t get much from Bosmans if you listen inattentively. Rowan Pierce sings Lead, kindly light, a setting of Cardinal Newman which was premiered by Jo Vincent, the dedicatee, with the Concertgebouw and Adrian Boult in 1945. It’s a good setting of the scena kind, compact at only five minutes.

Which leaves the Cello Concerto No.2 of 1923 which really is demarcated into three movements – an Andante, a Scherzo and then a Molto lento introduction to the finale followed by an Allegro to end the 25-minute work. There’s a welcome sense of textual freedom in this concerto, from the opening recitative for the cello onwards. Bosmans infiltrates martial calls and romantic warmth alike as the opening movement comes to a gentle end, buttressed by an ensuing airy, nonchalant Scherzo. The introduction to the finale serves as the concerto’s slow movement, into which Bosmans pours fanciful candour, which soon darkens before dancing, almost-whimsical writing sweeps us to the close.

Bosmans is deftly attractive when her textures and colours succeed in bridging gaps in her episodic structures and spontaneous-sounding metrics. She has been excellently served here by cellist Gemma Rosefield, who is clearly attuned to her muse, as well as Nabarro and Pierce and by the BBC Philharmonic and George Vass. The recorded sound is a touch cool for my tastes but perhaps it suits Bosmans, whose voice is lyrical but who also remains a touch elusive.

Jonathan Woolf   

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