Orchestre symphonique de Avanti, Maastricht (4, 6 et 8)
Oratorio Society Sittard (4)
Alice Henry, chef d'orchestre (4, 6 et 8)
Britt Truyts, soprano (6)
Jens Lauterbach, ténor (4)

Programme notes by Hans van Dijk :

“The ‘Pièce en forme de sonate’ for cello and piano and the ‘Sonate pour violon et piano’ were both composed during the war in 1943. Regarding the first work Andrée apparently intended to compose a four-movement sonata based on the classical form structure. The first sketches also indicate that the work was initially conceived for the violin, not cello. Count d’Avou Dion, a family member in France with whom she had often stayed prior to 1940, passed away in November 1941. Due to the circumstances of war she had been unable to visit him since 1939, so she had no chance to say farewell before his death. Andrée completed a ‘Lamento’ for cello and piano in February 1942. In retrospect it would appear that she was not satisfied with the work, since it was never performed. During the course of 1942 she wrote a new ‘Lamento’ (Adagio con molto espressione), to which she added a fast movement (Allegro e giocoso) in February 1943. This became the opening of the ‘Pièce en forme de sonate’. Subsequently she focused her attention on other works, leaving it as a two-movement work. When she performed it for the first time in a radio programme in June 1947 she altered the original title to ‘Pièce en forme de sonatine’, used here in the sense of ‘incomplete sonata’. During the same period the Nuth local council asked her to compose a work for the official unveiling of a bust of Henri Hermans. Her former mentor was – as we know – born in Nuth. The result was a third ‘Lamento’, once again for cello and piano, entitled ‘In memoriam Henri Hermans’.”

All three laments are composed in 3/4 time. The cello sings the lament, while the piano primarily has a simple accompanying role. Each lament has its own individual accompaniment figure. Under the first lament, dedicated to her great-uncle François Count d’Avou Dion, Bonhomme added two lines of verse: ‘jamais, jamais nous le reverrons! / il dort couché sous la vague écumante’. With a minor alteration: ‘nous’ replacing ‘ils’, the lines are an excerpt from the poem ‘Le pauvre petit matelot‘ from the compilation Les premiers chants: poésies à l’usage de la jeunesse (1868) by the pastor-poet Jacques Louis Tournier (1828-1898) from Geneva. The poem was included in the translation book for secondary school students Glanures. premiers exercices de lecture et de traduction compiled by F.L. Faisely (1887) and it is possible that Bonhomme remembered it from this source (our thanks to Merel Dercksen and Leo Samama). Incidentally, her parents spoke French at home and she attended a French-speaking school.