Ligeti, György (Sándor)

Ligeti, György (Sándor), eminent Hungarian-born Austrian composer and pedagogue; b. Dicsöszent-márton, Transylvania, May 28, 1923. The original surname of the family was Auer; his great-uncle was Leopold Auer . He studied composition with Farkas at the Kolozsvar Cons. (1941–43) and privately with Ka-dosa in Budapest (1942–43). He then continued his training with Veress, Járdányi, Farkas, and Bárdos at the Budapest Academy of Music (1945–49), where he subsequently was a prof. of harmony, counterpoint, and analysis (from 1950). After the Hungarian revolution was crushed by the Soviet Union in 1956, he fled his homeland for the West. In 1967 he became a naturalized Austrian citizen. He worked at the electronic music studio of the West German Radio in Cologne (1957–58); from 1959 to 1972 he lectured at the Darmstadt summer courses in new music; from 1961 to 1971 he also was a visiting prof. at the Stockholm Musikhögskolan. In 1972 he served as composer-in- residence at Stanford Univ., and in 1973 he taught at the Berkshire Music Center at Tanglewood. From 1973 to 1989 he was a prof. of composition at the Hamburg Hochschule für Musik. He has received numerous honors and awards. In 1964 he was made a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm, in 1968 a member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, and in 1984 an honorary member of the American Academy and Inst. of Arts and Letters; in 1986 he received the Grawemeyer Award of the Univ. of Louisville; in 1988 he was made a Commandeur in the Ordre National des Arts et Lettres in Paris; in 1990 he was awarded the Austrian State Prize; in 1991 he received the Praemium imperiale of Japan; in 1993 he won the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize of Munich; in 1996 he received the Music Prize of the Wolf Foundation in Jerusalem and the Music Prize of UNESCO. In his bold and imaginative experimentation with musical materials and parameters, Ligeti endeavors to bring together all aural and visual elements in a synthetic entity, making use of all conceivable effects and alternating tremendous sonorous upheavals with static chordal masses and shifting dynamic colors. He describes his orch. style as micropolyphony.

Works

dramatic:Le Grand Macabre, opera (1974- 77; Stockholm, April 12, 1978; rev. version, Salzburg, July 28, 1997); Rondeau for Actor and Tape (1976; Stuttgart, Feb. 26, 1977). orch.:Romanian Concerto for Small Orch. (1951); Sechs Miniaturen for Wind Ensemble (1953–75; Schwetzingen, May 16, 1976); Apparitions (1958–59; Cologne, June 19, 1960); Atmosphères (Donaueschingen, Oct. 22, 1961); Fragment for Chamber Orch. (1961; Munich, April 1962); Cello Concerto (1966; Berlin, April 19, 1967); Lontano (Donaueschingen, Oct. 22,1967); Ramifications for String Orch. or 12 Solo Strings (1968–69; first version, Berlin, April 23, 1969; second version, Saarbrücken, Oct. 10, 1969); Chamber Concerto for 13 Instruments (Ottawa, April 2, 1970); Melodien (Nuremberg, Dec. 10, 1971); Double Concerto for Flute, Oboe, and Orch. (Berlin, Sept. 16,1972); San Francisco Polyphony (1973–74; San Francisco, Jan. 8, 1975); Mysteries of the Macabre for Trumpet and Orch. (1974–77; 1992; Paris, Jan. 20, 1994); Piano Concerto (1985–88; movements 1–3, Graz, Oct. 23, 1986; movements 4-5, Vienna, Feb. 29, 1988); Macabre Collage (1991; Florence, May 16, 1992; arranged from the opera Le Grand Macabre by E. Howarth); Violin Concerto (first version, Cologne, Nov. 3, 1990; second version, Cologne, Oct. 8, 1992). chamber: Cello Sonata (1948–53); Andante und Allegretto for String Quartet (1950; Salzburg, July 28, 1994); Sechs Bagatellen for Wind Quintet (1953; Södertälje, Sweden, Oct. 6,1969); 2 string quartets: No. 1, Métamorphoses nocturnes (1953–54; Vienna, May 8, 1958) and No. 2 (1968; Baden-Baden, Dec. 14, 1969); 10 Pieces for Wind Quintet (1968; Malmö, Jan. 20, 1969); Trio for Violin, Horn, and Piano (Hamburg-Bergedorf, Aug. 7, 1982); Sonata for Solo Viola (1991–94; Gütersloh, April 23,1994). keyboard: piano:Frühe Stücke for Piano, 4-hands (1942–51); Musica ricercata (1951–53); Trois bagatelles (1961); Monument, Selbstportrait, Bewegung for 2 Pianos (Cologne, May 15,1976); 13 Études (1985–93). organ:Volumina (1961–62); 2 studies: No. 1, Harmonies (1967) and No. 2, Coulée (1969). harpsichord:Continuum (1968); Hungarian Rock (Cha-conne) (1978); Passacaglia ungherese (1978). vocal:Ifúsági kantáta (Cantata for Youth) for Soprano, Contralto, Tenor, Baritone, Chorus, and Orch. (1949); Pápainé for Chorus (1953); Éjszaka (Night) and Reggel (Morning) for Chorus (1955); Aventures for 3 Singers and 7 Instruments (1962; Hamburg, April 4, 1963); Nouvelles aventures for Aventures Ensemble (1962–65; Hamburg, May 26, 1966); Aventures & Nouvelles aventures, theater piece based on the 2 preceding works (Stuttgart, Oct. 19, 1966); Requiem for Soprano, Mezzo-soprano, 2 Choruses, and Orch. (1963–65; Stockholm, March 14, 1965); Clocks and Clouds for Women’s Chorus and Orch. (1972–73; Graz, Oct. 15, 1973); Lux aeterna for 16 Voices (Stuttgart, Nov. 2, 1966); Drei Phantasien for 16 Voices (Stockholm, Sept. 26, 1983); Magyar etüdök (Hungarian Studies) for 16 Voices (1983); Nonsense Madrigals for 6 Men’s Voices (1988–93). electronic:Glissandi (1957); Artikulation (1958); Pièce électronique No. 3 (1957–58). other:Poème symphonique for 100 Metronomes (1962; Hilversum, Sept. 13, 1963).

Bibliography

E. Salmenhaara, Das musikalische Material und seine Behandlung in den Werken “Apparitions,” “Atmosphères,” “Aventures” und “Requiem” von G. L.(Helsinki and Regensburg, 1969); O. Nordwall, G. L: Eine Monographie (Mainz, 1971); P. Griffiths, G. L. (London, 1983); E. Restagno, ed., L. (Turin, 1985); H. Sabbe, G. L.: Studien zur kompositorischen Phänomenologie (Munich, 1987); R. Richart, G. L: A Bio-Bibliography (N.Y., 1990); P. Peterson, ed., Für G. L: Die Referate des L-Kongresses Hamburg 1988 (Laaber, 1991); W. Burde, G. L: Eine Monographie (Zürich, 1993); U. Dibelius, G. L: Eine Monographie in Essays (Mainz, 1994); C. Floros, G. L: Jenseits von Avantgarde und Postmoderne (Vienna, 1996); F. Sallis, An Introduction to the Early Works of G. L.(Cologne, 1996); C. Engelbrecht, W. Marx, and B. Sweers, Lontano-”Aus weiter Ferne:” Zur Musiksprache und Assoziationsvielfalt G. L.s (Hamburg, 1997).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire