THE ELECTRONIC WORKS OF GYÖRGY LIGETI AND THEIR ...

Chapter 1: Introduction
Historical Background and Reasons for this Study:
After fleeing Hungary in December 1956, György Ligeti composed two works for
tape in the electronic music studios of the West Deutscher Rundfunk in Cologne:
Glissandi (1957) and Artikulation (1958); he had drafted a third piece, but left it
unfinished. Instead he turned his attention to a new orchestral piece, and after the
premiere of Apparitions in 1959, he never returned to complete this work, or indeed, to
work in the electronic medium ever again. His two finished works were composed under
the guidance of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Gottfried Michael Koenig, and in many
regards, these works reflect his introduction to the experimental music of this influential
circle of avant-garde composers. Along with the unfinished Pièce électronique No. 3, 1
which he drafted between the other pieces from November 1957 through January 1958,
these compositions occupy a fascinating position in the composer’s oeuvre, as they are the
first pieces composed entirely outside the repressive artistic climate of communist
Hungary and immediately precede his orchestral masterpieces, Apparitions in 1958-59 and
Atmospheres in 1961, which were celebrated at their premieres, brought him international
recognition, and which are often considered the first works of his “mature” style. Yet
these electronic pieces remain relatively neglected, when compared to the rest of his
output.
1This
piece has since been realized by Kees Tazelaar along with Johann van Kreij and Paul Berg at the
Institute for Sonology in the Hague. This version, completed in 1996, has been released on His Master’s
Noise, BVHAAST CD 06/0701.
1