Who was Gyorgi Ligeti?
Born in Romania to a Hungarian Jewish family, Ligeti briefly lived in Hungary and ultimately became a citizen of Austria.
His music is esoteric to the extreme.
He appears to have been a favorite of movie director Stanley Kubrick who used his music in 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and Eyes Wide Shut.
In addition to The Shining, his orchestral work Lontano was recently used in the Martin Scorsese film Shutter Island.
I must admit I don’t often listen to Ligeti. I think he is an important composer but I find myself turning to more traditional sources.
Ligeti often employed a harmony of seconds.
To explain: when played together, do-mi-so is a major triad using the first, third, and fifth notes of a major scale. When played together, do-re-mi is secundal harmony using the first, second, and thirds notes of a major scale.
Secundal harmony is an interesting term because to hear it, the lay person will think it sounds like dissonance instead of harmony.
Ligeti challenges traditional harmony and attempts to open our ears to a different aesthetic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2OQbA3r78M&feature=related
Who was Gyorgi Ligeti?
Born in Romania to a Hungarian Jewish family, Ligeti briefly lived in Hungary and ultimately became a citizen of Austria.
His music is esoteric to the extreme.
He appears to have been a favorite of movie director Stanley Kubrick who used his music in 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and Eyes Wide Shut.
In addition to The Shining, his orchestral work Lontano was recently used in the Martin Scorsese film Shutter Island.
I must admit I don’t often listen to Ligeti. I think he is an important composer but I find myself turning to more traditional sources.
Ligeti often employed a harmony of seconds.
To explain: when played together, do-mi-so is a major triad using the first, third, and fifth notes of a major scale. When played together, do-re-mi is secundal harmony using the first, second, and thirds notes of a major scale.
Secundal harmony is an interesting term because to hear it, the lay person will think it sounds like dissonance instead of harmony.
Ligeti challenges traditional harmony and attempts to open our ears to a different aesthetic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2OQbA3r78M&feature=related