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Stichting RMVD supports the publishing of Dutch composer Henriëtte Bosmans

Donemus is delighted to announce the decision of the board of the RMVD Foundation to support the publishing of the remaining works of Dutch composer Henriëtte Bosmans, thanks to the Leo Smit Foundation's Forbidden Music Regained project. Board members Bert Verhaar, Greg Lawson and Walter van Dijk joined fellow board member Paula Quint at the Nederlands Muziek Instituut archives to look at some of the unpublished handwritten manuscripts of Ms. Bosmans which Donemus is undertaking to publish.

About the Rudi Martinus van Dijk Foundation

Composers and conductors are the leaders of the music world. Inspired by the compassion and work of composer Rudi Martinus van Dijk, the RMVD Foundation was formed after his name. Their fundraising charitable music organisation supports musical education projects as well as aspiring composers, instrumentalists and conductors who live in parts of the world where there is political strife or economic deprivation. Through sponsorship, scholarships and workshops, they bring about social change by giving young people opportunities to develop their talents.

Very soon the Concertstuk for violin and orchestra will be published and available as new edition. Stay tuned for more news about this project!

Stichting RMVD supports the publishing of Dutch composer Henriëtte Bosmans on Spotify

Stichting RMVD supports the publishing of Dutch composer Henriëtte Bosmans on SoundCloud

Published 6 days ago
General The composer Rudi Martinus van Dijk was born in Culemborg, the Netherlands, on 27th of March 1932.
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Henriëtte Bosmans is considered one of the most important Dutch composers of the first half of the 20th century. As a pianist and composer, she was affiliated with various chamber music ensembles in Amsterdam, with among others the violinists Louis Zimmerman and Francis Koene and the cellist Marix Loevensohn. World War II puts her career on hold. Henriëtte Bosmans refuses to become a member of the Nazi’s Chamber of Culture and can perform only secretly. During the war, she develops a friendship with the reciter Charlotte Köhler. After a lengthy period in which Bosmans regularly performs but does not compose, because of the premature death of Francis Koene in 1935 and the war, she writes the 'Doodenmarsch' [Death March, 1945], on text by Clara Eggink.
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Two female composers are central to the first half of this programme. Henriëtte Bosmans was the first woman in the Netherlands to profile herself successfully as a composer right from the start. The romantic Poème for cello and orchestra was her first major orchestral work.
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Our Team’s Picks

Composers in the crosshairs of our attention

Robert Groslot

Belgium, June 9, 1951

The sound universe of Belgian composer Robert Groslot fuses Anglo-Saxon, Germanic and Latin elements into a new and highly malleable language, building upon the achievements of the great composers of the Western heritage. Form virtuosity, sound refinement, wittiness, ‘rediscovered’ tonality and rhythmical adventure are the keystones of the music of Robert Groslot. He often draws inspiration from other art forms, especially poetry and painting. His work catalogue consists of large orchestral works, 25 concertos, two symphonis, three multimedia works, two chamber operas  and many solos and chamber music.

“He is a composer with a natural, surprising, in a pleasant way between heaven and earth hanging idiom and with the craftsmanship of the tradition to which his work refers.”

(Luister – January 2015)

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Joey Roukens

Netherlands, March 28, 1982

His output includes orchestral works, ensemble works, chamber music, solo instrumental works and an opera. In his music Roukens strives to move away from modernist ways of thinking in search for a more eclectic and more direct idiom, without reverting to some naive neo-style. In doing so, the composer doesn’t shy away from the use of triads, tonal or diatonic harmonies, a regular rhythmic pulse, directness of expression, simplicity, references to popular music and vernacular culture, ‘stealing’ from the musical heritage of the past and the odd trivial turn.

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Klas Torstensson

Sweden, January 16, 1951

There are people who climb the highest mountains or dive into the deepest sea caves. Adolescents who sail solo around the world. And then there are composers who explore pristine soundscapes. Klas Torstensson is such a composer. He dangles from cliffs, wanders over tranquil plains, weathers gusts of winds ... while working in his loft at home. The result is an amazingly strong and rich oeuvre which has been performed, praised, and admired all over the world.”
(Saskia Törnqvist)

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