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Betsy Jolas: language, breath, and living sound

Gillian Moore explores the organic aliveness of the music of Betsy Jolas, with a focus on her 1977 trumpet concerto Onze Lieder.

In a programme first broadcast earlier this year, Gillian Moore celebrates the organic aliveness encountered in the music of the French-American composer Betsy Jolas, who was born in Paris in 1926. On the way to a full performance of her 1977 trumpet concerto Onze Lieder, we’ll be pacified by lullabies, skirt the literary worlds of Joyce and Baudelaire and discover the important role that languages - both real and invented - played for some of the 20th century's finest composers.

Produced by Sam Phillips
A Reduced Listening production for BBC Radio 3

59 minutes

On radio

Next Saturday 21:30
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Betsy Jolas

    Onze lieder

    Performer: Håkan Hardenberger. Orchestra: Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Fabien Gabel.
    • Tomasi, Jolivet & Others: French Trumpet Concertos.
    • BIS.

  • John Williams

    Main Title

    Performer: John Williams.
    • Star Wars (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
    • 20th Century.

  • Betsy Jolas

    Quatour III - 9 Etudes - II. Vibrato

    Ensemble: Concord String Quartet.
    • Betsy Jolas & Lejaren Hiller: String Quartets.
    • New World.

  • Betsy Jolas

    Lovemusic

    Ensemble: Ensemble Accroche Note.
    • Jolas: Ventosum Vocant.
    • Accord.

  • Betsy Jolas

    Motet IV "Ventosum vocant"

    Ensemble: Ensemble Accroche Note.
    • Jolas: Ventosum Vocant.
    • Accord.

  • Anton Webern

    5 Pieces For Orchestra, Op.10 - V.

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Antal Doráti.
    • Five Pieces For Orchestra, Op. 16 / Five Pieces For Orchestra, Op. 10 / Three Pi.
    • Philips.

  • Orlande de Lassus

    Timor et tremor

    Choir: The Sixteen. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • Great European Choral Works.
    • CORO.

  • Alban Berg

    Wozzeck - Act I Scene 3 "Komm' mein Bub! (Marie's Lullaby)

    Singer: Waltraud Meier. Orchestra: Staatskapelle Berlin. Conductor: Daniel Barenboim.
    • Berg: Wozzeck, Op. 7.
    • Warner Classics.

  • Henri Dutilleux

    Tout un monde lointain - I. Enigme

    Orchestra: Orchestre national de France. Conductor: David Robertson.
    • Tout un monde lointain.
    • ALPHA.

  • Gérard Grisey

    Partiels

    Ensemble: Ensemble Musikfabrik. Conductor: Emilio Pomàrico.
    • Partiels.
    • WERGO.

  • György Kurtág

    Grabstein für Stephan, op. 15c

    Ensemble: Asko|Schönberg. Conductor: Reinbert de Leeuw.
    • György Kurtág: Complete Works For Ensemble And Choir.
    • ECM.

  • Joji Yuasa

    Mai-Bataraki II

    Performer: 木ノ脇道元.
    • Joji Yuasa’s The 70th Birthday Concert Live 1999.
    • Music Scape.

  • Claude Vivier

    Lonely Child (1980)

    Ensemble: Schoenberg Ensemble. Conductor: Reinbert de Leeuw. Singer: Susan Narucki.
    • Lonely Child (1980).
    • DECCA.

  • Betsy Jolas

    Onze lieder

    Performer: Håkan Hardenberger. Orchestra: Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Fabien Gabel.
    • Tomasi, Jolivet & Others: French Trumpet Concertos.
    • BIS.

  • Evan Parker

    WW3

    • Winns Win.
    • BYRD OUT.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 4 Jan 2026 21:00
    BBC Radio 3
  • Next Saturday 21:30
    BBC Radio 3