György Ligeti
Upcoming Performances
About György Ligeti
I almost always associate colours, form and consistencies with sounds and vice versa also associate all acoustic sensations with form, colour and material properties. Even abstract terms such as quantity, relationships, coherences and processes appear to me to be sensualised and have their place in an imaginary space. (György Ligeti)
György Ligeti was born on 28.5.1923 as the son of Hungarian-Jewish parents in Dicsőszentmárton (now known as Târnǎveni, in Transylvania/Romania). He studied at the Conservatory in Klausenburg with Ferenc Farkas from 1941 to 1943 and from 1945 to 1949 at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest with Sándor Veress, Pál Járdányi and Lajos Bárdos. Following the abatement of the Hungarian Revolution, he left his native country in December 1956 for both political and artistic reasons. During his time as freelancer in the West German Radio studio for electronic music in Cologne (1957-58), he undertook an intense study of the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Mauricio Kagel and Pierre Boulez. In the 1960s, Ligeti was associate professor at the Summer School for Contemporary Music in Darmstadt and guest professor at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm. He received a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Programme (DAAD) in Berlin for 1969-70 and was Composer in Residence at the Stanford University in California in 1972 before being appointed as Professor for Composition at the Hamburg Musikhochschule the following year. The composer made a substantial impact on international contemporary music both as a university professor (up to 1989) and as an active member of the music scene and became the musical aesthetic benchmark for a whole generation. György Ligeti died in Vienna on 12 June 2006.
In specialist musical circles, György Ligeti had already caused a sensation with his electronic composition Artikulation (1958) which had been produced in the Cologne recording studio. He subsequently gained immediate fame throughout the musical world with his orchestral works Apparitions (1958-59) and Atmosphères (1961). Leanings towards extreme micro-polyphony were already visible in the works he had previously composed in Hungary, for example the a capella choral works Éjszaka and Reggel from1955. In the works from the late 1950s and 1960s, the concept of an extremely densely interwoven voice structure was increasingly contrasted with static tonal-spatial compositions. This was achieved with stunning effect: the maximum degree of movement in the voices develops into an audibly perceived spatially “static” music. In the 1980s and 1990s, complex polyrhythmic compositional techniques come to the foreground in Ligeti’s works. This development can be followed clearly in the Etudes pour piano which were published in three volumes and span the compositional period between 1985 and 2001. During the same period, Ligeti was working on the solo concertos for Piano and Orchestra (1985-88) and Violin and Orchestra (1990/92). These compositions – together with the Hamburg Concerto for horn und chamber orchestra (1998/99) – have subsequently been adopted in the solo repertoire of numerous soloists.
Ligeti’s full-length stage work Le Grand Macabre was composed between 1974 and 1977 (revised version 1996) and was based on a fable by Michel de Ghelderode. The persiflage on the Last Judgement in the imaginary country of “Breughelland” develops into an absurd display of the all too human needs of its citizens. Ligeti also utilises the medium of parody in his music which ranges from acrobatic bel canto and complex tone row structures to grotesque sprechgesang.
Alongside membership in the Free Academy of Arts in Hamburg and the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, György Ligeti was honoured as the recipient of numerous prizes: the following list includes only a selection of these awards: Commandeur dans l'Ordre National des Arts et Lettres, Prix de composition musicale de la Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco (both in 1988), the Music Prize from the Balzan Foundation (1991), the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (1993), the UNESCO-IMC Music Prize (1996), honorary membership in the Romanian Academy (1997) and nomination as Associé étranger der Académie des Beaux Arts (1998). Ligeti additionally received the Sibelius Prize from the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation (2000), the Kyoto Prize for Art and Science (2001), the Medal for Art and Science from the Senate of the City of Hamburg (2003), the Theodor W. Adorno Prize from the City of Frankfurt (2003) and the Polar Music Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music (2004).
Worklist
Gallery
Chronology
Products
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 7718 Q41182In stock€2.99Incl. Tax
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 7718 Q41184In stock€2.99Incl. Tax
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 8541 Q41161In stock€4.99Incl. Tax
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 7718 Q41176In stock€2.99Incl. Tax
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 7718 Q41179In stock€2.99Incl. Tax
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Score and partsInstrumentation: string quartetProduct number: ED 8334In stock€21.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 7989 Q41156In stock€2.99Incl. Tax
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(Étude 5 from "Études pour piano, Premier livre")Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: ensemble
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Realisiert im Studio für Elektronische Musik des Westdeutschen Rundfunks KölnComposer: György LigetiMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: Audio Files
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Realisiert im Studio für Elektronische Musik des Westdeutschen Rundfunks KölnComposer: György LigetiMedia Type: Sheet music with CDSeries: Artikulation
Language: German, EnglishProduct number: ED 6378-20In stock€54.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 7989 Q41157In stock€3.99Incl. Tax
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(Ballad and Dance)Composer: György LigetiEdition: Performing scoreSeries: Edition Schott
Instrumentation: 2 violinsProduct number: ED 8371Product TypeIn stockAs low as €9.99Incl. Tax -
(Ballad and Dance)Composer: György LigetiEdition: ScoreSeries: Concertino
Edition Schott
Baladă şi joc
Instrumentation: school orchestraProduct number: CON 177Product TypeIn stockAs low as €14.99Incl. Tax -
(Ballad and Dance)Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Set of string parts (supplementary), 2 Descant Recorders, 2 Violins I, 2 Violins II, 2 Violins III, 2 Cellos, Double BassSeries: Concertino
Baladă şi joc
Instrumentation: school orchestraProduct number: CON 177-60In stock€16.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
(Ballad and Dance)Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Set of parts, Piano, 2 Descant Recorders, 5 Percussions, 4 Violins I, 4 Violins II, 4 Violins III, 3 Cellos, 2 Double BassesSeries: Concertino
Baladă şi joc
Instrumentation: school orchestraProduct number: CON 177-50In stock€43.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
nach rumänischen VolksliedernComposer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFEdition: Individual part, descant recorderSeries: Concertino
Instrumentation: school orchestraProduct number: CON 177-11 Q52977In stock€1.99Incl. Tax -
nach rumänischen VolksliedernComposer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFEdition: Individual part, Violin ISeries: Concertino
Instrumentation: school orchestraProduct number: CON 177-14 Q15085In stock€1.99Incl. Tax -
nach rumänischen VolksliedernComposer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFEdition: Individual part, Violin IISeries: Concertino
Instrumentation: school orchestraProduct number: CON 177-15 Q15084In stock€1.99Incl. Tax -
nach rumänischen VolksliedernComposer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFEdition: Individual part, Violin IIISeries: Concertino
Instrumentation: school orchestraProduct number: CON 177-16 Q15083In stock€1.99Incl. Tax -
nach rumänischen VolksliedernComposer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFEdition: Individual part, VioloncelloSeries: Concertino
Instrumentation: school orchestraProduct number: CON 177-17 Q15082In stock€1.99Incl. Tax -
nach rumänischen VolksliedernComposer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFEdition: Individual part, Double bassSeries: Concertino
Instrumentation: school orchestraProduct number: CON 177-18 Q15070In stock€1.99Incl. Tax -
(From the cradle to the grave)Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: soprano, baritone and ensembleLanguage: Hungarian
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Concerto for violin and orchestraComposer: Thomas AdèsEdition: Separate editionSeries: Cadenza, Vol. 11
Instrumentation: violinProduct number: ED 21605Product TypeIn stockAs low as €5.99Incl. Tax -
Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 8541 Q41162In stock€3.99Incl. Tax
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 7718 Q41180In stock€2.99Incl. Tax
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Product TypeIn stockAs low as €12.99Incl. Tax
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for 12-part female choir and orchestraComposer: György LigetiEdition: Study scoreSeries: Music Of Our Time
Clocks and Clouds
Instrumentation: Women's Choir (in 12 voices) and OrchestraProduct number: ED 8204Product TypeIn stockAs low as €19.99Incl. Tax -
for 12-part female choir and orchestraComposer: György LigetiMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: 12stimmiger Frauenchor (4S,4Mez,4A) und OrchesterLanguage: Onomatopoeia
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: player pianoProduct number: ED 8654 Q41172In stock€3.99Incl. Tax
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 8654 Q41171In stock€3.99Incl. Tax
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für OrchesterComposer: György LigetiMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: orchestra
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for piano and orchestraComposer: György LigetiEdition: Solo partSeries: Konzert
Instrumentation: Piano and orchestraProduct number: ED 23178Product TypeIn stockAs low as €19.99Incl. Tax -
for Piano and OrchestraComposer: György LigetiEdition: Study scoreSeries: Music Of Our Time
Konzert
Instrumentation: Piano and OrchestraProduct number: ED 9553Product TypeIn stockAs low as €42.99Incl. Tax -
for piano and orchestraComposer: György LigetiMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: piano and orchestra
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for Piano and OrchestraComposer: György LigetiMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Faksimile-PartiturSeries: Konzert
Instrumentation: piano and orchestraProduct number: ED 7746In stock€73.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
Product TypeIn stockAs low as €13.99Incl. Tax
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 7989 Q41153In stock€3.99Incl. Tax
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 8654 Q41167In stock€3.99Incl. Tax
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 7989 Q41152In stock€3.99Incl. Tax
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für Flöte, Oboe und OrchesterComposer: György LigetiMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: flute, oboe and orchestra
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(1941-1950)Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Choral scoreSeries: Edition Schott
Instrumentation: choir a cappellaLanguage: German, HungarianProduct number: ED 23550Out of stock€29.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
(1939-1948)Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Separate editionSeries: Edition Schott
Instrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 23551Out of stock€49.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
for voice and pianoComposer: György LigetiMedia Type: Sheet musicEdition: Separate editionSeries: Edition Schott
Instrumentation: voice and pianoProduct number: ED 23566Out of stock€49.00Incl. Tax, Excl. Shipping -
(Little Serenade / Kleine Serenade)Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: string orchestra
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 8654 Q41168In stock€2.99Incl. Tax
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Étude No. 11 from "Études pour piano, Deuxième livre"Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: Hire/performance materialEdition: Performance materialInstrumentation: ensemble
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 8654 Q41169In stock€3.99Incl. Tax
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 7989 Q41155In stock€3.99Incl. Tax
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 8654 Q41165In stock€3.99Incl. Tax
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Composer: György LigetiMedia Type: E-score PDFInstrumentation: pianoProduct number: ED 8654 Q41164In stock€3.99Incl. Tax