György Ligeti (1923-2006)

[not edward]

I take it the Ullen CDs are these ones here (links should work even if the images don't show)

This looks like the complete Ullen recording as a 2CD set:

[asin]B000HT34NO[/asin]
For some reason, searching on amazon.com didn't turn it up: I had to look it up on the UK version first.

[EigenUser]

There is also a piece influenced by Fluxus artistic movement called "Fragment" for cbsn - bass tbn, cb.tbn - perc - hp, cem, pno - 3 cb

http://www.universaledition.com/Fragment-for-chamber-orchestra-Gyoergy-Ligeti/composers-and-works/composer/430/work/2532

It has been recorded and it exists on a very rare CD of an Austrian festival. Ligeti said it was just a joke and it is certainly not one of his masterpieces, but it is however interesting to hear it. Very few notes during almost 6 minutes... In the same style than Aventures/Nouvelles Aventures.

And there are many juvenilia somewhere in the Sacher foundation archives...

As far as I know no unpublished works appeared after his death... I wonder if it will happen one day. All great composers leave somthing unheard.

Yes, I've always wanted to hear this piece "Fragment" so much even though he didn't seem very happy with it. I've heard the short sample the publisher's site, but not all of the piece. It was written for a birthday of Alfred Schlee, who held a high position at Universal Edition. Schlee had little interest in Ligeti's music and was much more interested in the serialism of Boulez and Stockhausen. The notes that Ligeti uses partly (as best he could) spell out the name "S-C-H-L-E-E" using German note names (Like DSCH or BACH). UE composers were urged to write a birthday gift for Schlee and I think that "Fragment" is supposed to be subversive in the sense that he didn't get along well with him. This is why the only three pieces that are published with UE are "Apparitions", "Atmospheres", and "Fragment" -- all far from his best work in my opinion. Of course, "Atmospheres" gained popularity due to Stanley Kubrick so I'm sure that UE makes plenty of royalties from this alone since it is performed so often. While a pivotal composition, I still think that it is a kind of musical prototype -- micropolyphony in its early stages, though most people will vehemently disagree with me I'm sure.

[snyprrr]

The late '50s electronic piece Glissandi never appeared in either the Warner or Sony productions. It did appear on this Wergo disc:

[asin]B000025R93[/asin]

The last three etudes in book 3 also: Aimard recorded them (without the first. for some reason) here:

[asin]B00008UVCD[/asin]

As well as Hell, there are other recordings of book 3 that are complete: Ullen's 2CD set may be as good an option as any: his book 3 is rather rushed but the set comes with some obscurities, such as a withdrawn etude from Book 2 and a musically negligible parody of 4'33". I couldn't find an Amazon link to the CD edition, but I know it exists as my copy's almost within arm's reach right now.

Be aware that some "complete etudes" aren't quite complete: for example Toros Can's went to print with one etude as yet unwritten.

Don't I have that Erato/Boulez disc with Donatoni and Ligeti which has Aimard playing some of the 3rd Book? or.....

[kishnevi]

This looks like the complete Ullen recording as a 2CD set:

[asin]B000HT34NO[/asin]
For some reason, searching on amazon.com didn't turn it up: I had to look it up on the UK version first.

Interesting that the two individual releases are available on Amazon MP, even if not exactly cheap, while the set is completely unavailable at both Amazon US and Amazon UK.

[Mirror Image]

How about Ligeti's Requiem? Is this a cool work or what? I own two performances. One on Wergo with Gielen I believe (?) and the other included in the Ligeti Project set with Reinbert de Leeuw.

[springrite]

How about Ligeti's Requiem? Is this a cool work or what? I own two performances. One on Wergo with Gielen I believe (?) and the other included in the Ligeti Project set with Reinbert de Leeuw.

One of the coolest work I know!

[Mirror Image]

One of the coolest work I know!

It certainly is, Paul. I remember when I first heard. It just completely mesmerized me. The textures and sonorities are just out of this world.

[EigenUser]

One of the coolest work I know!

This one took me a while to warm up to (especially the 3rd movement), but there was a point where I just "let" the music be terrifying, if that makes sense, and I understand it in the context of this emotion. The American Symphony Orchestra is playing this work in NYC in December. I plan on going just for that!

P.S. The page from hell from the etude from hell:

[EigenUser]

Has anyone heard of this series "Musik in Deutschland"? It has "Clocks and Clouds" on it, though not near the quality of the Ligeti Project recording (not necessarily because of the orchestra, but because it sounds like a live performance). I got it last year on interlibrary loan from my university's library.

[petrarch]

Has anyone heard of this series "Musik in Deutschland"? It has "Clocks and Clouds" on it, though not near the quality of the Ligeti Project recording (not necessarily because of the orchestra, but because it sounds like a live performance). I got it last year on interlibrary loan from my university's library.

Yes, there are quite a few interesting recordings in that series, making it quite worthwhile.

[milk]

Today I acquired "The Ligeti Project" to introduce myself to this music. I came to this via the Morton Feldman thread. I'm going to use Feldman as a point of reference here - realizing that this is limited and questionable. Just first impressions here: I think that, while Feldman's music is more about the natural world and takes an almost scientific and, perhaps, Zen-like (whether or not Feldman himself cared about Zen or not) approach to music, Ligeti is about the "tremendum," the divine and the horrific. While I sometimes picture the nature channel when listening to Feldman, I can see why Kubric was attracted to Ligeti. Anyway, I think I'm going to like this music. It excited me right away. I don't know why I am so hit or miss, and more often than not miss, with modern/contemporary music. I already feel like Ligeti has something to say to me.

*and thanks to EigenUser for being persistent in steering me over this way. GMG users consistently enrich my life!

[EigenUser]

Today I acquired "The Ligeti Project" to introduce myself to this music. I came to this via the Morton Feldman thread. I'm going to use Feldman as a point of reference here - realizing that this is limited and questionable. Just first impressions here: I think that, while Feldman's music is more about the natural world and takes an almost scientific and, perhaps, Zen-like (whether or not Feldman himself cared about Zen or not) approach to music, Ligeti is about the "tremendum," the divine and the horrific. While I sometimes picture the nature channel when listening to Feldman, I can see why Kubric was attracted to Ligeti. Anyway, I think I'm going to like this music. It excited me right away. I don't know why I am so hit or miss, and more often than not miss, with modern/contemporary music. I already feel like Ligeti has something to say to me.

*and thanks to EigenUser for being persistent in steering me over this way. GMG users consistently enrich my life!

Believe me -- no problem! Your posts on Feldman's thread have likewise implored me to explore his music further which is nice because I tend to get "stuck" on pieces that I like and stop looking for more (which, of course, is a shame because there are likely many more things that I'd like).

There is still some Ligeti that I have trouble with -- the cello concerto, the 2nd string quartet, the "Aventures", and that god-awful organ piece "Volumina" (sorry guys , I had to say it) -- to name a few. It took me a while to warm up to the chamber concerto, though I do love that piece now.

[EigenUser]

Oh boy, am I a happy camper! I just came across this high-quality video performance of Ligeti's "Clocks and Clouds" by the Bamberger Symphoniker. I'm saving it for this afternoon. I can't wait!!! I think that it only up for a limited time, though.
http://www.philharmonie.tv/veranstaltung/10/
Also included are "Lux Aeterna" and the early "Apparitions" (his first 'avant-garde' work). Not a favorite, but interesting to see, nonetheless. They also play Honegger's cool tone-poem "Pacific 2-3-1" and Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring".

[snyprrr]

Another release of those fabulous SQs which are currently (rightfully) all the rage with performers & labels ..

[asin]B00F65N43O[/asin]
This disc brings together the string quartets of György Ligeti, who died in 2006. They are played by the Bela Quartet, quite young yet already past masters in the interpretation of this music and especially appreciated for their work of precision and refinement, commitment, homogeneity and musicality. In their playing, energy and subtlety alternate constantly in an ongoing search for colours, harmonies, rhythms and contrasts. These two works of rare intensity, sometimes blazing brilliantly, allow for understanding how Ligeti's music, regardless of its complexity and rigour, can nonetheless appeal to a very broad public. Here, creation and daring are constant.

all 39 minutes on one cd? impossible!!

[Karl Henning]

all 39 minutes on one cd? impossible!!

Must be one of those extra-high-capacity CDs!

[EigenUser]

Oh boy, am I a happy camper! I just came across this high-quality video performance of Ligeti's "Clocks and Clouds" by the Bamberger Symphoniker. I'm saving it for this afternoon. I can't wait!!! I think that it only up for a limited time, though.
http://www.philharmonie.tv/veranstaltung/10/
Also included are "Lux Aeterna" and the early "Apparitions" (his first 'avant-garde' work). Not a favorite, but interesting to see, nonetheless. They also play Honegger's cool tone-poem "Pacific 2-3-1" and Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring".

Saw half of this yesterday. Great energetic performance of the Honegger. "Clocks and Clouds" came out wonderfully, except the chorus sounded like they were saying "Ta guelle" over and over at one point, which is a very bad way of telling someone to shut up in French.

[Ken B]

Saw half of this yesterday. Great energetic performance of the Honegger. "Clocks and Clouds" came out wonderfully, except the chorus sounded like they were saying "Ta guelle" over and over at one point, which is a very bad way of telling someone to shut up in French.

Ah, those are audience noises. Always a problem with live performances.

[EigenUser]

Ah, those are audience noises. Always a problem with live performances.

Well I certainly walked right into that one, didn't I?

[EigenUser]

New BBC Radio 3 special on Ligeti -- a week left to listen.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b043wpvd

[not edward]

New BBC Radio 3 special on Ligeti -- a week left to listen.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b043wpvd

Thanks... this looks interesting. Louise Duchesneau and Lukas Ligeti might be the two people best positioned to talk about his late music.