2023-06-26 11:08:10
“At eighty-two, I am still trying to fulfill my own dream; but with the secret desire not to achieve it so as to preserve the fruitful anxiety until my death.”
Betsy Jolas
Franco-American composer, Betsy Jolas is distinguished by her unique works through which she affirms a passionate writing for vocal timbre. His career has been marked by numerous prizes and distinctions, including the Grand Prix national de la musique (1974), the Grand Prix de la Sacem (1982), the Maurice Ravel International Prize (1992). His works are created and performed worldwide by leading artists and instrumental ensembles.
Daughter of a translator and a poet and journalist, Betsy Jolas was raised in an artistic and literary environment: she often met great writers at home, such as James Joyce and Ernest Hemingway. Her parents left Paris to settle in New York in 1940. Enrolled at Bennington College, she studied harmony and counterpoint with Paul Boepple, organ with Carl Weinrich and piano with Hélène Schnabel. Betsy Jolas also joined the “Dessoff choir” thanks to which she was quickly introduced to the music of Roland de Lassus and the polyphonists of the 16th century. Back in Paris in 1948, she continued her musical studies at the city’s Conservatory, notably under the direction of Darius Milhaud and Olivier Messiaen (she replaced the latter in 1971).
A major event in her musical career, she discovered Webern’s Fünf Stücke op.10 in the 1950s; she thus became familiar with the avant-garde musical universe of composers such as Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Strongly influenced by the works of the latter, she nevertheless resisted any strict position, particularly on serialism, a trend that then fascinated a whole new generation of composers. Independent, Betsy Jolas gradually moves away from the norms of rhythm and pulsation advocated by her contemporaries by establishing a rhythmic and melodic fluidity in her music. Fascinated by counterpoint, unusual timbres, the voice and its expressive qualities, Betsy Jolas is also interested in the idea of blurring the boundary between voice and instrument: she gradually focuses on experimenting with ” vocality” in all his works, even purely instrumental ones.
Betsy Jolas nevertheless affirms that she does not want to “reject” a musical past but rather draw inspiration from it, adding her own contemporary musical expression. Composer but also teacher, Betsy Jolas was named holder of analysis classes in 1975 and composition in 1978 at the Paris Conservatory, and also teaches at the American universities of Yale, Harvard, Berkeley, USC, San Diego, and at Mills College. .
-> Complete biography of Radio France Documentation to be found
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Musical programming
Betsy Jolas (born in 1926)
A Little Summer Suite (2015) I. Strolling away
National Orchestra of Metz Grand Est, conducted by David c.
La Dolce Volta LDV103
Betsy Jolas (born in 1926)
A Little Summer Suite (2015) II. Knocks and clocks
Orchester National de Metz Grand Est, conductor David Reiland
La Dolce Volta LDV103
Betsy Jolas (born in 1926)
A Little Summer Suite (2015) IV. Shakes and quakes
Orchester National de Metz Grand Est, conductor David Reiland
La Dolce Volta LDV103
Betsy Jolas (born in 1926)
A Little Summer Suite (2015) VI. Chants and cheers
Orchester National de Metz Grand Est, conductor David Reiland
La Dolce Volta LDV103
Betsy Jolas (born in 1926)
Side Roads for cello and string orchestra (2017)
Anssi Kartunen, cello, Auvergne Chamber Orchestra, conductor Roberto Forés Veses
Orchester d’Auvergne Live 21 MUSIC 065
Betsy Jolas (born in 1926)
Quartet II (1964)
Mady Mesplé, soprano, French String Trio, Gérard Jarry, violin, Serge Collot, viola, Michel Tournus, cello
EMI 7499042
Betsy Jolas (born in 1926)
Motet IV They call the wind pour soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello and harp (2002) 1ère partie
Françoise Kubler, soprano, Ensemble Accroche-Note
Accord 442 8449
Betsy Jolas (born in 1926)
Stances for piano and orchestra (1978)
Claude Helffer, piano, New Philharmonic Orchestra of Radio-France, direction Marius Constant
Hades 140872
Interview by Betsy Jolas by Arnaud Merlin in Le Portrait Contemporain of November 29, 2017*
Betsy Jolas (born in 1926)
Letters from Bachville (2019)
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Andris Nelson, conductor (live on France Musique)
Interview by Betsy Jolas by Jean-Baptiste Urbain in Musique Matin on France Musique on January 23, 2023*
Betsy Jolas (born in 1926)
Lassus-Fantaisie following “Ô douce parle”, eight-man dialogue by Roland de Lassus, for four singers and saxophone quartet (2016)
Ensemble vocal Theleme, ensemble instrumental Xasax, direction Jean-Christophe Groffe
Coviello COV92011
1687782673
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