"Etiudy fortepianowe" z Pierwszej księgi György Ligetiego - inspiracje i konteksty

Abstract

The article analyses six pieces from the first book of Piano Études of György Ligeti, one of the greatest composers of the twentieth century. The Hungarian composer was one of the main figure of the post-war avant-garde movement. He created his own, original musical language, which was mainly determined by the use of completely unique and novel technique, so called micropolyphony. His most famous pieces (among them are Atmosphères and Lux aeterna featured in the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey) almost completely abandons melody, harmony and rhythm. In 1980s and 1990s Ligeti worked on the notion of new rhythmic articulation, based on the use of extremely complex polyrhythm within the context of a fast, steady pulse. Ligeti’s Piano Études are the most important pieces in this genre created in the last fifty years. The article deals with notions of illusory rhythms, dialectic of order and chaos, algorithmic procedures, isorhythmia and complex polyrhythms and polytempi. Ligeti’s piano music is thoroughly described in the relatively wide context of diverse creative stimuli, such as mechanical piano music of Conlon Nancarrow, sub-Saharan African music, music of the late middle ages (Ars Subtilior), oeuvre of the dutch artist Maurits Corelis Escher and fractal geometry. The composer’s innovative and genuine techniques are discussed in relation to this intellectual background.