Great Composers: György Ligeti

A look at an iconoclastic Hungarian.
This was a viewer request from UA-camr Ellie McEla. If you've got a question or request for a future video, leave a comment, shoot me a message through UA-cam, or use the email/Tumblr links below.
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Classical Nerd is a weekly video series covering music history, theoretical concepts, and techniques, hosted by composer, pianist, and music history aficionado Thomas Little.
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Music:
György Ligeti: Requiem (1965), unknown performers [original upload: wawSCvuGj4o]
Thomas Little: Dance! #2 in E minor, Op. 1 No. 2, performed by Rachel Fellows, Michael King, and Bruce Tippette
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Contact Information:
Questions and comments can be directed to:
nerdofclassical [at] gmail.com
Tumblr:
classical-nerd.tumblr.com
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All images and audio in this video are for educational purposes only and are not intended as copyright infringement. If you have a copyright concern, please contact me using the above information.

[@jdiwkall]

I wish you can give Ligeti the same treatment you gave Lutoslawski. They're both some of the most original and also emotionally accessible 20th century composers.

[@alessandroseravalle8674]

One of my all time favourite composers...thank you!!!

[@reidwhitton6248]

Love, love, love the music of Ligeti. I don't believe he is languishing in obscurity. I have three box sets of his material all on well known record labels including DG, Sony, and Teldec. The 5 disc set on Teldec is a great place to get acquainted with his music.

[@spencerrobinson5386]

Fascinating, what an interesting composer. Thanks for sharing, Ligeti seems like the type of artist I'm going to love learning more about

[@johnappleseed8369]

Finally!!! This is gonna be awesome, I love Ligeti! :)))))

[@bokazsombor]

Ligeti was born in Romania (not in Hungary). By the Treaty of Trianon (1920) that part (Transylvania) of the former Hungarian Kingdom (Austro-Hungarian Empire) was part of Romania. So technically, he was born into a Hungarian family in Romania.

[@sefard777]

Yes, indeed. As a Romanian, that opening remark kind of hurt.

[@Bati_]

Wow! This video is so informative and wonderful! Please keep them coming and share the references/further reading and resources as well! Your book shelf looks amazing!

[@Brandon55638]

I really love Ligeti's later works because I always get inspired by the way he uses traditional chords, all-interval ideas (simple motifs that contain all the intervals i.e. in Ligeti's Horn Trio) and the weird quasi-diatonic constructs that he makes out of those motifs (as in the Nonsense Madrigals).
The main "all-interval idea" of the Horn Trio contains
A-Ab (minor second)
B-A (major second)
Eb-C (minor third)
G-B (major third)
Eb in the second chord to Ab in the third (perfect fourth)
and Eb-A (tritone)
I also like the indirect reference Ligeti made to Ockeghem and Gesualdo in near the end of "The Alphabet".

[@zacharydetrick7428]

Ty ty for this great video about the greatest bad boy of all time.

[@bjornviir3333]

i m learning his devils staircase, man is it tough but also fun...how the heck could he visualize the notes at that crazy fast tempo...genius.

[@brendaboykin3281]

Thanx, Maestro 🌹🌹🌹

[@sebastianzaczek]

3:29 little correction: The last movement is an Arrangement of the 10th (Second to last) piece from musica ricercata, not the 11th (last) one. Other than that, Great video! 😄

[@JamesBannon-fz6qo]

Hungarian Rock is my favourite piece of harpsichord music. 😋

[@mitodrumisra8972]

Hey there Mr. Little. Thank you for posting this!
Gyorgy Ligeti is one of those composers who should really be pulled out from obscurity...
P.S. - Do any of Ligeti's early works exist? I mean, he left some of his compositions while fleeing from Hungary in 1956, so...
If so, which pieces are those?

[@ClassicalNerd]

Plenty exist! The most famous are probably his first String Quartet, the Sonata for Solo Cello, and _Musica Ricercata._ All are pieces that he wrote in Hungary (an era of his life he called the "prehistoric Ligeti").

[@pianomanhere]

No wonder I love Ligeti. He bucked the bullying of Pierre Boulez, the Stalinistic ultra-serialist Goodyear Blimp constantly floating around mid-twentierh century serious music.

[@lvb1770]

I wonder if he composed the piano etudes at the piano or if it was done at the composers desk?

[@juanborjas6416]

Nice video. You should make a video about Roslavets.

[@ClassicalNerd]

I couldn't agree more! I'll put it in the request queue.

[@QueensWino]

Thanks to this channel I checked out Ligeti’s horn trio; if it has romanticism in it then I have a hole in the head!

[@ClassicalNerd]

Compared to a lot _else_ Ligeti wrote? Absolutely.

[@JustMiluna]

How about to make a video abput Cyril Scott?
Ps. You're awesome!

[@ClassicalNerd]

Scott is now in the request pool.

[@JustMiluna]

Classical Nerd Yuppii,thanks a lot 💕

[@zacharydetrick7428]

i Love his Symphony no 3

[@jdiwkall]

Is it just me or does Ligeti look a lot like actor Klaus Kinski?

[@papanimes]

Who are you talking about in 6:20 ?
I cant understand

[@ClassicalNerd]

Johannes Ockeghem.

[@me_is_hobo]

Can you do a video of James Macmillan?

[@ClassicalNerd]

James is still smack-dab in the middle of his career, so I doubt my ability to make a proper, holistic retrospective.

[@annakimborahpa]

So Gyorgy escaped Ligeti split from Hungary during the failed 1956 revolution? Too bad he didn't emigrate to Italy where he could have bestowed his last name upon a new pasta dish that mirrored the goulash texture of his compositions.

[@tolower486]

Can you do Scarlatti?

[@ClassicalNerd]

Which one?

[@tolower486]

@@ClassicalNerd Domenico please

[@ClassicalNerd]

The request pool has been updated.

[@combusted4964]

Where is Kabalevsky

[@ClassicalNerd]

Wherever he's buried, I'd imagine.

[@segmentsAndCurves]

nice

[@annakimborahpa]

Maybe somewhere practicing Kabbalah?

[@hadleymanmusic]

Oopps