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Halim El-Dabh: A life of vibration

Kate Molleson and Gillian Moore shine new light on the 'modern' music of the 20th century. This week, Kate explores the world of the pioneering Egyptian composer Halim El-Dabh.

Kate Molleson and Gillian Moore present BBC Radio 3's series exploring the pivotal 'modern' musical works of the 20th century, the groundbreaking composers who created them, and the radical cultural and artistic movements which gave rise to them. In this episode, Kate enters the world of the pioneering Egyptian composer Halim El-Dabh, leading to his piece Leiyla and the Poet [1959]. Along the way, weā€™ll delve into the ethnomusicology of fellow 20th-century composers, join the New York scene of the 1950s just off Broadway with Cage, Cowell and Martha Graham, and discover the American composer with whom El-Dabh shared a deep affinity.

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

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22 days left to listen

59 minutes

Last on

Last Sunday21:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Pierre Schaeffer

    Etude aux Chemins de Fer

    Performer: Pierre Schaeffer.
    • Etude aux Chemins de Fer.
    • Fantastic Voyage.

  • Halim Elā€Dabh

    Wire Recorder Piece

    Performer: Halim Elā€Dabh.
    • Crossing Into The Electric Magnetic.
    • Halim El-Dabh Music LLC.

  • Bobby Darin

    Beyond the Sea

    • Beyond the Sea.
    • SINETOINE AMR.

  • Halim Elā€Dabh

    Element, Being, And Primeval

    Performer: Halim Elā€Dabh.
    • Crossing Into The Electric Magnetic.
    • Halim El-Dabh Music LLC.

  • Halim Elā€Dabh

    Venice

    Performer: Halim Elā€Dabh.
    • Crossing Into The Electric Magnetic.
    • Halim El-Dabh Music LLC.

  • Tony Liotta

    Darbuka

    • Dark Blue.
    • AUSR DIGITAL.

  • BĆ©la BartĆ³k

    The Miraculous Mandarin Suite (opening)

    Orchestra: Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra.
    • The Miraculous Mandarin Suite.
    • SWR CLASSIC.

  • Steve Reich

    Drumming IV (extract)

    Performer: Rebecca Armstrong. Performer: Jay Clayton. Performer: Erin Lesser. Ensemble: Sō Percussion.
    • Reich: Drumming.
    • Cantaloupe Music.

  • Naresh Sohal

    Asht Prahar

    Singer: Jane Manning. Orchestra: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis.
    • Naresh Sohal: The Wanderer & Asht Prahar.
    • Heritage Records.

  • Peggy Glanville-Hicks

    Sonata for Piano and Percussion

    Performer: New York Percussion Group.
    • Composer-Critics of the New York Herald Tribun.
    • Other Minds Records.

  • Halim Elā€Dabh

    Leiyla and the Poet

    Performer: Halim Elā€Dabh.
    • Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center.
    • Columbia Masterworks.

  • Nadah El Shazly

    Palmyra

    • Ahwar.
    • Nawa Recordings.

Broadcast

  • Last Sunday21:00
    BBC Radio 3