Andrée Marie Clémence Bonhomme (1 December 1905 – 1 March 1982) was a Dutch composer.

Life

Andrée Bonhomme was born in

Maastricht Maastricht ( , , ; li, Mestreech ; french: Maestricht ; es, Mastrique ) is a city and a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital and largest city of the province of Limburg. Maastricht is located on both sides of the ...

and studied music theory and composition at the Maastricht Gielen Music Lyceum with Henri Hermansat and at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. She received a teaching certificate in 1927 and made her debut as a pianist and composer with the Maastricht Municipal Orchestra in 1928. From 1928 to 1940 she took summer courses with

Darius Milhaud Darius Milhaud (; 4 September 1892 – 22 June 1974) was a French composer, conductor, and teacher. He was a member of Les Six—also known as ''The Group of Six''—and one of the most prolific composers of the 20th century. His compositions ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. After completing her studies, Bonhomme worked as a composer and as a pianist with the Maastricht Orchestra, and in 1932 took a position teaching music theory and piano at the Heerlen music school. Bonhomme wrote a number of works and songs on French texts, but her career declined during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, as she refused to sign a "non-Jewish declaration". She was forced to resign from her orchestra position, and performance of her works was restricted to house concerts. In 1972 she received a royal honor. Bonhomme died in a nursing home fire in

Brunssum Brunssum (; li, Broensem) is a municipality and a town in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands. The municipality of Brunssum has residents as of . Brunssum was a center of coal mining until 1973. Population centres Topography Histor ...

. A string quartet apparently commissioned by Matty Niël and completed in February 1957 was posthumously premiered at the Limburg Composer Day in 1989. Her papers are housed in the Dutch Institute of Music in

Works

Bonhomme composed 51 works from 1920 to 1955. Selected works include: *''Drie schetsen'', 1928 *''Pièce en forme de sonatine'' for violoncello and piano, 1943 *''Quatre Melodies Tristan Klingsor'', 1955 *''Sheherazade'', song cycle, 1960 *''La Flute de jade'' *''Chansons de flûte'' *''Berceuse'' *''Le tombeau d’Antar''

External links

Collection Andrée Bonhomme in the ''Netherlands Music Institute'

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonhomme, Andree 1905 births 1982 deaths Dutch women classical composers Dutch classical composers 20th-century classical composers Dutch music educators Piano pedagogues Musicians from Maastricht Pupils of Darius Milhaud 20th-century women composers