In 1919, the cellist Marix Loevensohn commissioned a duo sonata from Henriëtte Bosmans for one of his recitals. Bosmans delivered – and in doing so, opened the “cello-focused” chapter of her early oeuvre, soon followed by two concertos, a Poème with orchestra (5556942), and several works with piano accompaniment. Inspired partly by Loevensohn and partly by her friend Frieda Belifante, what emerged was a collection that testifies to a talent as self-assured as it is sensitive: the sonata’s imposing outer movements frame tender lyricism in the spirit of Brahms and Debussy-like splashes of colour; the three Impressions flirt with various eras and landscapes; the Nocturne for cello and harp luxuriates in dreamy excess – and the sensitive spirit melts away in blissful surrender…