György Ligeti (1923-2006)

[snyprrr]

The PC is great, dont care much for the VC - the folkish tune kind of grates on me.

The Hamburg Concerto is worthy of mention, from about the same late period in his life.  But its hard to surpass the Double Concerto and Cello Concerto.

As far as 'final word' in concertos, Ferneyhough's cycle of chamber concertos - Terrain, La Chute d'Icare, Les Froissements d'Ailes de Gabriel, Algebrah are up there

Carter's late works as well - Dialogs for Piano & Orch.. the Violin Concerto, Cello Concerto, Horn Concerto and Flute Concerto are all great pieces

Ah, yes, very good!

I agree that folksy tune in the VC put me back for a moment.


Ah, I see, yes, Ferney and Carter, very incisive there , thx!!!

Ligeti knows how to get it on 

Yea,

Ligeti knows how to get it on 

I just can't deny it! I wish he and Xenakis had... well,... eh,... naw, they're fine as they are. I just think based on these Concertos, he was still zoomin', whereas IX seemed to be weakening slightly with the "old heimies" disease.


Ligeti's "up and down" escalator schtick DOES sound a bit like the IX technique, but they do seem to have different ways of expressing the same basic Universal Theorem (do anything at any time, and it will fit).

[snyprrr]

Where oh where can I get the whole Ligeti Project for less than a billion $$$??? That would be both Boxes... the Chamber Music one is m.i.a., or, abillion $$$...


Ligeti should be taken in large doses...

[snyprrr]

Where oh where can I get the whole Ligeti Project for less than a billion $$$??? That would be both Boxes... the Chamber Music one is m.i.a., or, abillion $$$...


Ligeti should be taken in large doses...

After much listening and angst,I realized I'm happy with the Ligeti I have. The pieces I was missing were the Requiem, 'Apparitions', and 'San Fransisco Polyphony', all appearing on that Eotvos disc... but I would rather prefer studio sound, and Teldec bla bla, and so on, and now I don't care!

Too much Ligeti seems to me now too much.



Nusica Ricercarata... wtf was this? Just heard it for the first time and just haaaated it!! Sounded like a caveman playing Ustvolskaya??? Or Bartok played by a single finger??Unbelievable... what do YOU think?

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

After much listening and angst,I realized I'm happy with the Ligeti I have. The pieces I was missing were the Requiem, 'Apparitions', and 'San Fransisco Polyphony', all appearing on that Eotvos disc... but I would rather prefer studio sound, and Teldec bla bla, and so on, and now I don't care!

Too much Ligeti seems to me now too much.



Nusica Ricercarata... wtf was this? Just heard it for the first time and just haaaated it!! Sounded like a caveman playing Ustvolskaya??? Or Bartok played by a single finger??Unbelievable... what do YOU think?

Musica Ricercata is really just a series of pieces where post-War Ligeti rediscovers and reconsiders ideas about creating a harmonic language. A lot of the pieces are not super sophisticated, but until you take a step back and really understand what it would mean for a composer to write a series of works like this in the context they were written in they really can just come across as simple, fun ditties and nothing more. In any case, each piece is a wonderful miniature in its own right and each one has a very concentrated and in depth look at certain tools and techniques of composition.

[aleazk]

Today is Ligeti's 95th birthday... if he were still alive, of course.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Here is a really fantastic interview about Ligeti's Etudes:

https://www.youtube.com/v/nKASgWj5wUE

[SymphonicAddict]

About modern/contemporary composers, Ligeti has risen like one of special interest for me. His music evokes bizarre atmospheres by using mesmerizing effects, and some of them somewhat frightening. I think he was a genius. I was listening to some of his concertos: the Concert Romanesc, which is quintessential Rumanian, really very folksy, and the Cello concerto, a work so different from the former, with intriguing fragments. It would be especially interesting to hear this music at night and being alone 

[bhodges]

Today, in a little under 2 hours, this all-Ligeti concert will be live-streamed from the Philharmonie de Paris. Matthias Pintscher will conduct the Ensemble intercontemporain in the Requiem and excerpts from Le Grand Macabre. Starts at 2:30pm EST. If you can't watch, they do archive a number of these, so it may be available to view later.

https://live.philharmoniedeparis.fr/concert/1089908.html?_ga=2.33861158.6227426.1544202377-364895801.1544202377

--Bruce

[steve ridgway]

Ligeti was the second proper classical music composer I purchased works by, just after Varese - two years ago now and I still really enjoy it. I think it clicked more having been used to ambient and electronic works in the Rock section.

[asin]B0091Q82GS[/asin]

I'm also very pleased with other one I bought 18 months ago.

[asin]B00530GMSG[/asin]

[Mandryka]

Today, in a little under 2 hours, this all-Ligeti concert will be live-streamed from the Philharmonie de Paris. Matthias Pintscher will conduct the Ensemble intercontemporain in the Requiem and excerpts from Le Grand Macabre. Starts at 2:30pm EST. If you can't watch, they do archive a number of these, so it may be available to view later.

https://live.philharmoniedeparis.fr/concert/1089908.html?_ga=2.33861158.6227426.1544202377-364895801.1544202377

--Bruce

I heard it, though maybe I didn't give it sufficient attention, I didn't get into it  -- it seemed a bit conservative in fact.

[bhodges]

I heard it, though maybe I didn't give it sufficient attention, I didn't get into it  -- it seemed a bit conservative in fact.

Ah well, as they say, "YMMV." Perhaps the concert in the post below (four of his concertos) will be more appealing.

--Bruce

[bhodges]

From May 10 at the Philharmonie de Paris, four Ligeti concertos (piano, horn, cello, violin) with great-looking soloists and the Ensemble intercontemporain, with Matthias Pintscher at the helm.

https://live.philharmoniedeparis.fr/concert/1097298/concertos-de-ligeti-ensemble-intercontemporain-matthias.html

--Bruce

[TheGSMoeller]

Just ordered the Sony Masterworks 9CD collection, to complete my trilogy of great Ligeti box sets. I have a few single discs containing some of his works, and the separate 1999 Sony release of Le Grand Macabre .
Ligeti's music has brought so much enjoyment the past year, and I'll write some later regarding some of favorite works of his.

Anyone here have a few favorite works by Ligeti?

[Mirror Image]

Just ordered the Sony Masterworks 9CD collection, to complete my trilogy of great Ligeti box sets. I have a few single discs containing some of his works, and the separate 1999 Sony release of Le Grand Macabre .
Ligeti's music has brought so much enjoyment the past year, and I'll write some later regarding some of favorite works of his.

Anyone here have a few favorite works by Ligeti?

Those are all three fantastic sets, Greg. I love Ligeti! A few of my favorite works of his would be the concerti for violin and piano, Études, both SQs, Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet, Clocks and Clouds, the Requiem, and Lontano. Of course, there are many others, but you asked for only a few.

[steve ridgway]

I need to become more familiar with those last two boxes, but definitely Atmospheres, Lux Aeterna and Lontano on the first CD I bought.

[TheGSMoeller]

I really love Lontano, and the Cello Concerto primarily the performance by Jean-Guihen Queyras. I also love that almost every piece by Ligeti that I listen to creates a completely different sound-world.

[Mirror Image]

I really love Lontano, and the Cello Concerto primarily the performance by Jean-Guihen Queyras. I also love that almost every piece by Ligeti that I listen to creates a completely different sound-world.

Indeed. I haven't exactly warmed up to the Cello Concerto yet, but I'm getting there. Lontano is a solid favorite --- love this piece.

[JBS]

I tend to like the smaller scale works over the bigger scale works, andnthe DG performances over the others.  But the thread has reminded me it's bern quite a while since I listened to anything in the Warner bix, so I have pulled that for a fresh listen.

[Mandryka]

Anyone enjoy the viola sonata? Favourite performances? I'm quite enjoying the one by Susanne van Els, I'm not totally sure that it's my sort of music, but maybe.

It's strange the way the later music is so lyrical, it's a common phenomenon obvs.

[Mandryka]

The first performance of the Ligeti cello concerto, which IMO is the greatest work of his that I have heard, and normally I won't go near music with the word "concerto" in the title, as I was saying, the first performance was given by Siegfried Palm and Henryk Czys (not to be confused with Siegfried Palm's later recording with Leeuw.) It is exceptionally good, and as far as I know the easiest way to hear it with decent sound is on the CD above (which is connected to a film)