György Ligeti
The Ligeti Project IV: Concertos / Ramifications / Requiem

In 2001, the record label Teldec continues the work that Sony had interrupted (the complete recording of György Ligeti's compositions) and launches The Ligeti Project: over the following years, five CDs are released to complete this ambitious editorial plan.

The fourth release of the Ligeti Project gathers four works: curiously, they are arranged on the CD in reverse chronological order, that is, from the most recent to the oldest, but the choice is fitting. The first two pieces, the "Hamburg Concerto" (1998-99) and the "Double Concerto" (1972), both have a duration of about 15 minutes and employ, as solo instruments, the horn in the first case, flute and oboe in the second, along with the orchestra.

Though the first piece, varied and differentiated in its seven parts, doesn’t stand out for particular merits (interestingly, it is dedicated to the city where Ligeti lived and taught for many years), the "Double Concerto" is a classic example of the Hungarian's style, characterized by barely perceptible modifications within a densely packed musical fabric.

It’s Ligeti's great invention, micropolyphony: with this term he coined, the composer referred to the use of a neurotic interweaving of parts (vocal or instrumental) within very narrow note intervals. Also, "Ramifications" (1968-69) for string instruments possesses these characteristics: in this 8-minute piece, Ligeti divides the instruments into two groups, and one of them plays "out of tune" a quarter-tone above the other. Hence the piece’s pasty and ectoplasmic sound result, but what a charm!

The standout piece on the CD, however, is undoubtedly the "Requiem" (1963-65) for choir and orchestra, a very famous piece also due to its use (alongside "Atmosphères" and "Lux Aeterna", also by Ligeti) in the soundtrack of Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey". It is the longest piece on the CD, 26 minutes, and constitutes a small anthology of the characteristics of this composer: the dark and mysterious sonorities, the sound magma that gives no respite, the slow flow of an alienating music that seems not to emerge from this world.

Divided into four sections, the first and second parts are more recognizable in style, while the third part stands out for the sudden jolts and sound violence, for the fragmented musical texture on which the solo voices emerge; until the ending brings the piece back to the subdued tones of the opening.

Here is the fourth volume of the Ligeti Project, but this composer is a must in all his works. He used to say: "My music gives the impression of a flow without a start and without an end. You can hear a fraction of something that started always and that will continue to vibrate endlessly". The review ends here, Ligeti's music does not.