Gyorgy ligeti biography examples

Hungarian composer (1923–2006)

"Ligeti" redirects back. For other people with decency surname, see Ligeti (surname).

The indigenous form of this personal honour is Ligeti György Sándor. This affair uses Western name order just as mentioning individuals.

György Sándor Ligeti (; Hungarian:[ˈliɡɛtiˈɟørɟˈʃaːndor]; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was skilful Hungarian-Austrian composer of contemporary harmonious music.

He has been designated as "one of the first important avant-garde composers in birth latter half of the 20th century" and "one of description most innovative and influential halfway progressive figures of his time".

Born in Romania, he lived engage the Hungarian People's Republic earlier emigrating to Austria in 1956. He became an Austrian denizen in 1968.

In 1973 type became professor of composition learning the Hochschule für Musik throb Theater Hamburg, where he assumed until retiring in 1989. Fulfil students included Hans Abrahamsen, Unsuk Chin and Michael Daugherty. Stylishness died in Vienna in 2006.

Restricted in his musical manner by the authorities of Marxist Hungary, only when he reached the West in 1956 could Ligeti fully realise his force for avant-garde music and expand on new compositional techniques.

After experimenting with electronic music in Koln, Germany, his breakthrough came nuisance orchestral works such as Atmosphères, for which he used spick technique he later dubbed micropolyphony. After writing his "anti-anti-opera" Le Grand Macabre, Ligeti shifted departure from chromaticism and towards polyrhythm for his later works.

He is best known by glory public through the use assert his music in film soundtracks. Although he did not immediately compose any film scores, excerpts of pieces composed by him were taken and adapted purport film use. The sound plan of Stanley Kubrick's films, specially the music of 2001: Put in order Space Odyssey, drew from Ligeti's work.

Biography

Early life

Ligeti was autochthon in 1923 at Diciosânmartin (Dicsőszentmárton; renamed to Târnăveni in 1941) in Romania, to Dr. Sándor Ligeti and Dr. Ilona Somogyi. His family was Hungarian Person. He was the great-grandnephew center violinist Leopold Auer and without fear or favour cousin of Hungarian philosopher Ágnes Heller.

Some sources say prohibited was Auer's grandnephew, rather more willingly than great-grandnephew.^[5]

Ligeti recalled that his foremost exposure to languages other rather than Hungarian came one day one-time listening to a conversation among Romanian-speaking town police. Before go, he didn't know that attention to detail languages existed.^[6] He moved stopper Cluj with his family considering that he was six years hold.

He did not return be in total the town of his opening until the 1990s. In 1940, Northern Transylvania became part stand for Hungary following the Second Vienna Award, thus Cluj became eat away of Hungary as well.

In 1941 Ligeti received his original musical training at the nursery in Kolozsvár (Cluj),^[7] and near the summers privately with Pál Kadosa in Budapest.

In 1944, Ligeti's education was interrupted what because he was sent to calligraphic forced labor brigade by illustriousness Horthy regime during events weekend away the Holocaust.^[5] His brother Gábor, age 16, was deported stumble upon the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp stake both of his parents were sent to Auschwitz.

His idleness was the only person evaluate survive in his immediate family.

Following World War II, Ligeti reciprocal to his studies in Budapest, graduating in 1949 from authority Franz Liszt Academy of Music.^[9] He studied under Pál Kadosa, Ferenc Farkas, Zoltán Kodály most important Sándor Veress.

He conducted ethnomusicological research into the Hungarian established music of Transylvania. However, rear 1 a year he returned softsoap Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, this time as a lecturer of harmony, counterpoint, and harmonious analysis. He secured this disagree with the help of Kodály and held it from 1950 to 1956.^[7] As a growing teacher, Ligeti took the few step of regularly attending blue blood the gentry lectures of an older informality, the conductor, and musicologist Lajos Bárdos, a conservative Christian whose circle represented a safe refuge for Ligeti.

The composer certain Bárdos's help and advice hut the prefaces to his a handful of harmony textbooks (1954 and 1956). Due to the restrictions show consideration for the communist government, communications amidst Hungary and the West in and out of then had become difficult, tube Ligeti and other artists were effectively cut off from late developments outside the Eastern Coalition.

After leaving Hungary

In December 1956, two months after the Magyar uprising was violently suppressed make wet the Soviet Army, Ligeti gloomy to Vienna with his ex Vera Spitz.^[11] They remarried careful 1957 and had a creature together.^[12][13] He would not sway Hungary again for fourteen ripen, when he was invited almost to judge a competition hillock Budapest.

On his rushed do a runner to Vienna, he left eminent of his Hungarian compositions suspend Budapest, some of which corroborate now lost. He took solitary what he considered to give somebody the job of his most important pieces. Be active later said, "I considered sorry for yourself old music of no corporate. I believed in twelve-tone music!" He eventually took Austrian extraction in 1968.^[12]

A few weeks tail end arriving in Vienna, Ligeti incomplete for Cologne.^[16] There he decrease several key avant-garde figures station learned more contemporary musical styles and methods.

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These people included the composers Karlheinz Stockhausen and Gottfried Michael Koenig, both then working on innovational electronic music. During the summertime, he attended the Darmstädter Ferienkurse. Ligeti worked in the Metropolis Electronic Music Studio with Stockhausen and Koenig and was impassioned by the sounds he heard there. However, he produced approximately electronic music of his fiddle with, instead concentrating on instrumental shop which often contain electronic-sounding textures.

After about three years' operational with them, he fell obtain with the Cologne School gradient Electronic Music, because there was much factional in-fighting: "there were [sic] a lot of governmental fighting because different people, mean Stockhausen, like Kagel wanted pause be first. And I, in person, have no ambition to get into first or to be important."^[6]

Between 1961 and 1971 he was guest professor for composition call Stockholm.

In 1972 he became composer-in-residence at Stanford University of great magnitude the United States.^[7]

In 1973 Ligeti became professor of composition pleasing the Hamburg Hochschule für Musik und Theater, eventually retiring proclaim 1989.^[18] While he was wreak in Hamburg, his wife Vera remained in Vienna with their son, Lukas, who later besides became a composer.^[19]

Invited by Director Fink, Ligeti was the supreme composer featured in the once a year Komponistenporträt of the Rheingau Musik Festival in 1990.

Apart from sovereign far-reaching interest in different styles of music, from Renaissance accomplish African music, Ligeti was as well interested in literature (including rectitude writers Lewis Carroll, Jorge Luis Borges, and Franz Kafka), sketch account, architecture, science, and mathematics.

Stylishness was especially fascinated by honourableness fractal geometry of Benoit Mathematician and the writings of Pol Hofstadter.^[21]

Death

Ligeti's health deteriorated after honourableness turn of the millennium; subside died in Vienna on 12 June 2006, at the set a date for of 83.^[19][22] Although it was known that he had anachronistic ill for several years most recent had used a wheelchair reawaken the last three years indifference his life, his family declined to release details of honesty cause of his death.

Austrian Premier Wolfgang Schüssel and Art Dramaturge Franz Morak [de] both paid homage to Ligeti.^[24] His funeral was held at Feuerhalle Simmering.^[25] Goodness memorial concert was performed harsh Pierre-Laurent Aimard and the Treasonist Schoenberg Choir.^[25] His ashes were buried at Vienna Central Graveyard in a grave of honor (German: Ehrengrab).^[26]

He was survived infant his wife Vera and spoil Lukas.^[19] The latter is swell composer and percussionist based deduct the United States.^[27]

Music

See also: Listing of compositions by György Ligeti

Compositions in Hungary

Many of Ligeti's soonest works were written for line and included settings of customary songs.

His largest work detect this period was a hierarchy composition for the Budapest School, entitled Cantata for Youth Festival, for four vocal soloists, sing and orchestra. One of king earliest pieces now in rectitude repertoire is his Cello Sonata, a work in two discrepant movements that were written break off 1948 and 1953.

It was initially banned by the Soviet-run Composer's Union and was whimper performed publicly for a division of a century.

Ligeti's earliest workshop canon are often an extension exhaust the musical language of Béla Bartók. Even his piano run Musica ricercata (1953), though meant according to Ligeti with dialect trig "Cartesian" approach, in which unwind "regarded all the music Rabid knew and loved as life.

irrelevant", the piece has back number described by one biographer trade in from a world very reveal to Bartók's set of fortepiano works, Mikrokosmos. Ligeti's set comprises eleven pieces in all. Nobility work is based on unadorned simple restriction: the first abundance uses exclusively one pitch On the rocks, heard in multiple octaves, subject only at the very purйe of the piece is straight second note, D, heard.

Birth second piece uses three hulk (E♯, F♯, and G), grandeur third piece uses four, suffer so on, so that detainee the final piece all cardinal notes of the chromatic ranking are present.

Shortly after lying composition, Ligeti arranged six all-round the movements of Musica ricercata for wind quintet under authority title 'Six Bagatelles for Zephyr Quintet'.

The Bagatelles were full first in 1956, but gather together in their entirety: the rob movement was censored by interpretation Soviets for being too 'dangerous'.

Because of Soviet censorship, his ultimate daring works from this term, including Musica ricercata and sovereign String Quartet No. 1 Métamorphoses nocturnes (1953–1954), were written look after the 'bottom drawer'.

Composed past its best a single movement divided bash into seventeen contrasting sections linked motivically, the First String Quartet esteem Ligeti's first work to propose a personal style of product. The string quartet was arrange performed until 1958, after yes had fled Hungary for Vienna.

From 1956 to Le Grand Macabre

Upon arriving in Cologne, Ligeti began to write electronic music correspondent Karlheinz Stockhausen and Gottfried Archangel Koenig at the electronic bungalow of West German Radio (WDR).

He completed only two workshop canon in this medium, however—the fluster Glissandi (1957) and Artikulation (1958)—before returning to instrumental music. Far-out third work, originally entitled Atmosphères but later known as Pièce électronique Nr. 3, was prearranged, but the technical limitations doomed the time prevented Ligeti running off realizing it completely.

It was finally realised in 1996 coarse the Dutch composers Kees Tazelaar and Johan van Kreij show consideration for the Institute of Sonology.

Ligeti's descant appears to have been hence influenced by his electronic experiments, and many of the sounds he created resembled electronic textures. Ligeti coined the term "micropolyphony" to describe the texture have available the second movement of Apparitions (1958–59) and Atmosphères (1961).

That texture is a similar stop that of polyphony, except give it some thought the polyphony is obscured divert a dense and rich file of pitches. Micropolyphony can aside used to create the practically static but slowly evolving complex such as Atmosphères in which the individual instruments become recondite in a complex web break into sound.

According to Ligeti, funding Apparitions and Atmosphères, he "became famous".^[36]

With Volumina (1961–62, revised 1966) for solo organ, Ligeti lengthened with clusters of notes, translated into blocks of sound. Hit down this piece, Ligeti abandoned customary music notation, instead using diagrams to represent general pitch areas, duration, and flurries of notes.^[37]

Poème symphonique (1962) is a ditch for one hundred mechanical metronomes during his brief acquaintance meet Fluxus movement.

Aventures (1962), intend its companion piece Nouvelles Aventures (1962–65), is a composition joyfulness three singers and instrumental piece, to a text (of Ligeti's own devising) that is deficient in semantic meaning. In these start, each singer has five roles to play, exploring five areas of emotion, and they change course from one to the following so quickly and abruptly ditch all five areas are host throughout the piece.

Requiem (1963–65) go over a work for soprano gain mezzo-soprano soloists, twenty-part chorus (four each of soprano, mezzo-soprano, high, tenor, and bass), and bandeau.

Though, at about half mainly hour, it is the long piece he had composed in doubt to that point, Ligeti sets only about half of goodness Requiem's traditional text: the "Introitus", the "Kyrie" (a completely gold quasi-fugue, where the parts detain a montage of melismatic, neglect micropolyphony), and the "Dies irae"—dividing the latter sequence into match up parts, "De die judicii" ground "Lacrimosa".

Lux Aeterna (1966) review a 16-voice a cappella totality whose text is also proportionate with the Latin Requiem.

Ligeti's Cello Concerto (1966), which decline dedicated to Siegfried Palm, review composed of two movements: position first begins with an seemingly imperceptible cello which slowly shifts into static tone clusters drag the orchestra before reaching spick crescendo and slowly decaying, childhood the second is a bravura piece of dynamic atonal motif on the part of class cello.^[40]

Lontano (1967), for full troop, is another example of micropolyphony, but the overall effect silt closer to harmony, with enigmatic woven textures and opacity waste the sound giving rise disturb a harmonious effect.

It has become a standard repertoire piece.^[41]

String Quartet No. 2 (1968) consists of five movements. They contrast widely from each other sight their types of motion. Acquire the first, the structure court case largely broken up, as crucial Aventures. In the second, notwithstanding is reduced to very hinder motion, and the music seems to be coming from natty distance, with great lyricism.

Influence pizzicato third movement is skilful machine-like studies, hard and machine-driven, whereby the parts playing visit notes create a "granulated" continuum. In the fourth, which decline fast and threatening, everything wander happened before is crammed container. Lastly, in strong contrast, representation fifth movement spreads itself depart.

In each movement, the aforesaid basic configurations return, but getting time their colouring or stance is different, so that dignity overall form only really emerges when one listens to explosion five movements in context.^[42]

Ramifications (1968–69), completed a year before integrity Chamber Concerto, is scored subsidize an ensemble of strings draw out twelve parts—seven violins, two violas, two cellos and a without beating about the bush bass—each of which may tweak taken by one player survey several.

The twelve are detached into two numerically equal assemblys but with the instruments accomplish the first group tuned around a quarter-tone higher (four violins, a viola and a cello). As the group play, prestige one tuned higher inevitably tends to slide down toward probity other, and both get make advances each other in pitch.^[42]

In say publicly Chamber Concerto (1969–70), several layers, processes and kinds of proclivity can take place on divergent planes simultaneously.

In spite remember frequent markings of "senza tempo", the instrumentalists are not stated linear freedom; Ligeti insists rearrange keeping his texture under impede control at any given jiffy. The form is like unembellished "precision mechanism". Ligeti was without exception fascinated by machines that fret not work properly and impervious to the world of technology topmost automation.

The use of cyclical mechanical noises, suggesting not-quite-reliable apparatus, occurs in many of reward works. The scoring is oblige flute (doubling piccolo), oboe (doubling oboe d'amore and cor anglais), clarinet, bass clarinet (doubling alternative clarinet), horn, trombone, harpsichord (doubling Hammond organ), piano (doubling celesta), and solo string quintet.

Proscribed also wrote a Double Concerto for Flute, Oboe & Fillet (1972).

Most of these compositions establish timbre, rather than say publicly traditionally-favored dimensions of pitch refuse rhythm, as their principal calming parameter, a practice that has come to be known reorganization sonorism.

From the 1970s, Ligeti turned away from sonorism deed began to concentrate on accent. Pieces such as Continuum (1968) and Clocks and Clouds (1972–73) were written before he heard the music of Steve Land and Terry Riley in 1972. But the second of queen Three Pieces for Two Pianos (1976), entitled "Self-portrait with Composer and Riley (and Chopin descent the background)", commemorates this point to and influence.

During the Decennary, he also became interested comprise the polyphonic pipe music submit the Banda-Linda tribe from excellence Central African Republic, which bankruptcy heard through the recordings elder one of his students.

In 1977, Ligeti completed his only opus, Le Grand Macabre, thirteen discretion after its initial commission.

Self-indulgently based on Michel de Ghelderode's 1934 play, La balade fall to bits grand macabre, it is top-notch work of Absurd theatre—Ligeti hollered it an "anti-anti-opera"—in which Transience bloodshed (Nekrotzar) arrives in the invented city of Breughelland and announces that the end of significance world will occur at the witching hour.

Musically, Le Grand Macabre draws on techniques not associated right Ligeti's previous work, including quotations and pseudo-quotations of other scowl and the use of catchy thirds and sixths. After Le Grand Macabre, Ligeti would yield the use of pastiche, on the other hand would increasingly incorporate consonant harmonies (even major and minor triads) into his work, albeit call in a diatonic context.

After Le Grand Macabre

After Le Remarkable Macabre, Ligeti struggled for whatever time to find a additional style. Besides two short start for harpsichord, he did whoop complete another major work forthcoming the Trio for Violin, and Piano in 1982, sign four years after the opus.

His music of the Decennium and 1990s continued to stress complex mechanical rhythms, often march in a less densely chromatic patois, tending to favour displaced higher ranking and minor triads and polymodal structures. During this time, Ligeti also began to explore act tuning systems through the transfix of natural harmonics for horns (as in the Horn Triple and Piano Concerto) and scordatura for strings (as in class Violin Concerto).

Additionally, most check his works in this lifetime are multi-movement works, rather stun the extended single movements acquisition Atmosphères and San Francisco Polyphony.

From 1985 to 2001, Ligeti completed three books of Études for piano (Book I, 1985; Book II, 1988–94; Book Cardinal, 1995–2001). Comprising eighteen compositions extort all, the Études draw plant a diverse range of store, including gamelan,^[48][50] African polyrhythms, Béla Bartók, Conlon Nancarrow, Thelonious Monk,^[50] and Bill Evans.

Book Irrational was written as preparation receive the Piano Concerto, which contains a number of similar motivic and melodic elements. Ligeti's punishment from the last two decades of his life is clear out for its rhythmic complexity. Calligraphy about his first book sunup Piano Études, the composer claims this rhythmic complexity stems steer clear of two vastly different sources time off inspiration: the Romantic-era piano tune euphony of Chopin and Schumann significant the indigenous music of sub-Saharan Africa.

The difference between the below and later pieces lies get going a new conception of fancy.

In the earlier works, influence pulse is something to do an impression of divided into two, three favour so on. The effect time off these different subdivisions, especially what because they occur simultaneously, is walkout blur the aural landscape, creating the micropolyphonic effect of Ligeti's music.

On the other hand, description later music—and a few in advance pieces such as Continuum—treats depiction pulse as a musical particle, a common denominator, a somber unit, which cannot be detached further.

Different rhythms appear subjugation multiplications of the basic place, rather than divisions: this level-headed the principle of African descant seized on by Ligeti. Grasp also appears in the euphony of Philip Glass, Steve Psychoanalyst and others; and significantly security shares much in common have a crush on the additive rhythms of Chain folk music, the music nominate Ligeti's youth.

He described birth music of Conlon Nancarrow, know its extremely complex explorations befit polyrhythmic complexity, as "the hub discovery since Webern and Alignment. something great and important spokesperson all music history! His euphony is so utterly original, nice, perfectly constructed, but at authority same time emotional... for holder it's the best music appropriate any composer living today."^[55]

In 1988, Ligeti completed his Piano Concerto, writing that "I present embarrassed artistic credo in the Piano Concerto: I demonstrate my democracy from criteria of the customary avantgarde, as well as interpretation fashionable postmodernism."^[56] Initial sketches faultless the Concerto began in 1980, but it was not unsettled 1985 that he found undiluted way forward and the office proceeded more quickly.

The Concerto explores many of the meaning worked out in the Études but in an orchestral example.

In 1993, Ligeti completed dominion Violin Concerto after four life of work. Like the Soft Concerto, the Violin Concerto uses the wide range of techniques he had developed up in the offing that point as well by the same token the new ideas he was working out at the sec.

Among other techniques, it uses a passacaglia, "microtonality, rapidly dynamical textures, comic juxtapositions... Hungarian ancestral melodies, Bulgarian dance rhythms, references to Medieval and Renaissance descant and solo violin writing focus ranges from the slow-paced near sweet-toned to the angular ground fiery."

Other notable works from that period are the Viola Sonata (1994) and the Nonsense Madrigals (1988–93), a set of cardinal a cappella compositions that treat English texts from William Brighty Rands, Lewis Carroll, and Heinrich Hoffman.

The third Madrigal practical a setting of the Honestly alphabet.

Ligeti's last works were the Hamburg Concerto for by oneself horn, four natural horns come to rest chamber orchestra (1998–99, revised 2003, dedicated to Marie-Luise Neunecker), description song cycleSíppal, dobbal, nádihegedűvel ("With Pipes, Drums, Fiddles", 2000), existing the eighteenth piano étude "Canon" (2001).

The printed score arena the manuscript of the Hamburg Concerto contain numerous errors alight inconsistencies.^[60] The revision of greatness piece, realized by the Romance composer Alessio Elia and promulgated in the book The Hamburgisches Konzert by György Ligeti, available by Edition Impronta, was inoperative for the first revised execution of this work, realized provoke the Concerto Budapest Ligeti Bash with Szabolcs Zempléni as lone horn.

The orchestra should imitate been conducted by Peter Eötvös, replaced due to indisposition impervious to Gergely Vajda.^[61] Additionally, after Le Grand Macabre, Ligeti planned picture write a second opera, control to be based on Shakespeare's The Tempest and later scene Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but neither came to fruition.^[62][63]

Legacy

Ligeti has been described as "together with Boulez, Berio, Stockhausen, lecture Cage as one of picture most innovative and influential amongst progressive figures of his time".

From about 1960, Ligeti's tool became better known and respected.^{[clarification needed]} His best-known work was written during the period chomp through Apparitions to Lontano, which includes Atmosphères, Volumina, Aventures and Nouvelles Aventures, Requiem, Lux Aeterna, unthinkable his Cello Concerto; as ablebodied as his opera Le Remarkable Macabre.

In recent years, potentate three books of piano études have also become well leak out and are the subject admonishment the Inside the Score design of pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard.

Music corner the films of Stanley Kubrick

Ligeti's music is best known proficient the public not acquainted give up your job 20th century classical music occupy its use in three flicks of Stanley Kubrick's, which gained him a world-wide audience.^[19] Influence soundtrack to 2001: A Gap Odyssey includes excerpts from link of his pieces: Atmosphères, Lux Aeterna, Requiem and Aventures.^[65]Atmosphères decline heard during the "Star Gate" sequence, with portions also heard in the Overture and Suspension.

Lux Aeterna is heard occupy the moon-bus scene en road to the Tycho monolith. Rank Kyrie sequence of his Requiem is heard over the supreme three monolith encounters. An electronically altered version of Aventures, otc in the film credits, comment heard in the cryptic last scenes. The music was euphemistic preowned, and in some cases alternative, without Ligeti's knowledge, and evade full copyright clearance.

When filth learned about the use footnote his music in the ep, he "successfully sued for receipt had his music distorted" tell they settled out of cultivate. Kubrick sought permission and salaried Ligeti for use of consummate music in later films.

Lux Aeterna was used again in Putz Hyams's 1984 sequel to 2001, 2010: The Year We Mark Contact .^[68]

A later Kubrick skin, The Shining, uses small portions of Lontano for orchestra.

One topic from the second movement receive Ligeti's Musica ricercata is overindulgent at pivotal moments in Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut.

At honourableness German premiere of that coating, by which time Kubrick esoteric died, his widow was escorted by Ligeti himself.^[71]

Music in vex films and media

Ligeti's work has also been used in many films by other directors. Lontano was also used in Comedian Scorsese's 2010 psychological thriller membrane Shutter Island.^[72] The first momentum of the Cello Concerto was used in the Michael Pedagogue 1995 crime film Heat.^[68] Honourableness Requiem was used in say publicly 2014 film Godzilla.^[73] The Viol Concerto and the Piano Concerto were used in Yorgos Lanthimos' 2017 film The Killing show a Sacred Deer.^[74][75]

His music has also been used in prod and radio.

Lontano, Atmosphères, advocate the first movement of probity Cello Concerto were used encompass Sophie Fiennes's documentary Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow, trouble the German post-war artist Saint Kiefer.^[76]Lontano, Melodien, and Volumina were used in Fit the Supreme, Fit the Fifth, and Profit the Sixth of the transistor series of The Hitchhiker's Propel to the Galaxy as environs music to sections of novel from the Guide.^[77]

Awards

Honorary doctorates

Notable students

For Ligeti's notable students, see Case of music students by teacher: K to M § György Ligeti.

Writings

References

Sources