View source for György Ligeti

{{Short description|Hungarian composer (1923–2006)}}
{{about||the Hungarian indie musician|György Ligeti (musician)}}
{{Redirect|Ligeti|other people with the surname|Ligeti (surname)}}
{{eastern name order|Ligeti György Sándor}}
{{Expand Hungarian|topic=bio|Ligeti György|date=March 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = György Ligeti
| image              = György Ligeti (1984).jpg
| image_size         = 
| caption            = Ligeti in 1984
| birth_name         = 
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1923|05|28|df=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Târnăveni|Diciosânmartin]], [[Transylvania]], [[Kingdom of Romania|Romania]]
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2006|06|12|1923|05|28|df=y}}
| death_place        = Vienna, Austria
| occupation         = {{hlist|Composer|Academic teacher}} 
| works         = [[List of compositions by György Ligeti|List of compositions]]
| awards             = [[Ernst von Siemens Music Prize]]
}}
'''György Sándor Ligeti''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|ɪ|g|ə|t|i}}; {{IPA|hu|ˈliɡɛti ˈɟørɟ ˈʃaːndor|lang}}; 28 May 1923 – 12 June 2006) was a Romanian-born Hungarian-Austrian composer of [[contemporary classical music]].{{sfn|Griffiths|2001}} He has been described as "one of the most important [[avant-garde music|avant-garde]] composers in the latter half of the twentieth century" and "one of the most innovative and influential among progressive figures of his time".{{sfn|Cummings|n.d.}}

Born in [[Romania]], he lived in the [[Hungarian People's Republic]] before emigrating to Austria in 1956. He became an Austrian citizen in 1968. In 1973 he became professor of composition at the [[Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg]], where he worked until retiring in 1989. His students included [[Hans Abrahamsen]], [[Unsuk Chin]] and [[Michael Daugherty]]. He died in Vienna in 2006.

Restricted in his musical style by the authorities of Communist Hungary, only when he reached the West in 1956 could Ligeti fully realise his passion for [[avant-garde]] music and develop new compositional techniques. After experimenting with [[electronic music]] in [[Cologne]], Germany, his breakthrough came with orchestral works such as ''[[Atmosphères]]'', for which he used a technique he later dubbed [[micropolyphony]]. After writing his "anti-anti-opera" ''[[Le Grand Macabre]]'', Ligeti shifted away from [[chromaticism]] and towards [[polyrhythm]] for his later works.

He is best known by the public through the use of his music in [[Soundtrack|film soundtracks]]. Although he did not directly compose any film scores, excerpts of pieces composed by him were taken and adapted for film use. The sound design of [[Stanley Kubrick]]'s films, particularly the music of ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'', drew from Ligeti's work.

==Biography==

===Early life===
Ligeti was born in 1923 at Diciosânmartin (''Dicsőszentmárton''; renamed to [[Târnăveni]] in 1941) in [[Romania]], to Dr. Sándor Ligeti and Dr. Ilona Somogyi. His family was [[History of the Jews in Hungary|Hungarian Jewish]]. He was the great-grandnephew of violinist [[Leopold Auer]] and second cousin of Hungarian philosopher [[Ágnes Heller]].{{sfn|Hauptfeld|Heller|2018|loc=22}}{{sfn|Searby|2010|loc=3}} Some sources say he was Auer's grandnephew, rather than great-grandnephew.<ref name="Griffiths 2001">{{harvnb|Griffiths|2001}}</ref>

Ligeti recalled that his first exposure to languages other than Hungarian came one day while listening to a conversation between Romanian-speaking town police. Before that, he didn't know that other languages existed.<ref name="bbc.co.uk">{{harvnb|Tusa|2001}}</ref> He moved to [[Cluj-Napoca|Cluj]] with his family when he was six years old. He did not return to the town of his birth until the 1990s. In 1940, [[Northern Transylvania]] became part of Hungary following the [[Second Vienna Award]], thus Cluj became part of Hungary as well.

In 1941 Ligeti received his initial musical training at the [[Gheorghe Dima National Music Academy|conservatory in Kolozsvár (Cluj)]],<ref name="bio"/> and during the summers privately with [[Pál Kadosa]] in Budapest. In 1944, Ligeti's education was interrupted when he was sent to a [[The Holocaust#Hungary|forced labor brigade]] by the [[Hungary in World War II|Horthy regime]] during events of the Holocaust.<ref name="Griffiths 2001"/> His brother Gábor, age 16, was deported to the [[Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp]] and his parents were sent to [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]]. His mother was the only person alongside Ligeti to survive in his immediate family.{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc=20}}

Following [[World War II]], Ligeti returned to his studies in Budapest, graduating in 1949 from the [[Franz Liszt Academy of Music]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Swed |first=Mark |date=13 June 2006 |title=Gyorgy Ligeti, 83; a Mercurial Composer Who Despised Dogmas |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51857164/ligeti-obituary-swed/ |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |location=Los Angeles |page=89 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref> He studied under Pál Kadosa, [[Ferenc Farkas]], [[Zoltán Kodály]] and [[Sándor Veress]]. He conducted [[ethnomusicology|ethnomusicological]] research into the [[Hungarian folk music]] of Transylvania. However, after a year he returned to Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, this time as a teacher of [[harmony]], [[counterpoint]], and [[musical analysis]]. He secured this position with the help of Kodály and held it from 1950 to 1956.<ref name="bio" /> As a young teacher, Ligeti took the unusual step of regularly attending the lectures of an older colleague, the conductor, and musicologist [[Lajos Bárdos]], a conservative Christian whose circle represented a safe haven for Ligeti. The composer acknowledged Bárdos's help and advice in the prefaces to his two harmony textbooks (1954 and 1956).{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc=31}} Due to the restrictions of the [[communism|communist]] government, communications between Hungary and the West by then had become difficult, and Ligeti and other artists were effectively cut off from recent developments outside the [[Eastern Bloc]].

===After leaving Hungary===
In December 1956, two months after the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Hungarian uprising]] was violently suppressed by the Soviet Army, Ligeti fled to Vienna with his ex-wife Vera Spitz.<ref>{{cite news|last=Service|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Service|date=17 October 2003|title=Prelude for Pygmies|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51858842/ligeti-service/|work=[[The Guardian]]|location=London|page=68|via=[[Newspapers.com]]|access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref> They remarried in 1957 and had a son together.<ref name="Steinitz 2003, 70–73">{{harvnb|Steinitz|2003|loc=70–73}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Publications |first=Europa |date=2003 |title=The International Who's Who 2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sR4Ch1dMe8IC&q=ligeti+international+whos+who&pg=PA1005 |publisher=Psychology Press |page=1005 |isbn=978-1-85743-217-6 }}</ref> He would not see Hungary again for fourteen years, when he was invited there to judge a competition in Budapest.{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc=250}} On his rushed escape to Vienna, he left most of his Hungarian compositions in Budapest, some of which are now lost. He took only what he considered to be his most important pieces. He later said, "I considered my old music of no interest. I believed in [[twelve-tone]] music!"{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc=73–74}} He eventually took Austrian citizenship in 1968.<ref name="Steinitz 2003, 70–73"/>

[[File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F004566-0002, Darmstadt, Internationaler Kurs für neue Musik.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Karlheinz Stockhausen]] lecturing at the [[Darmstädter Ferienkurse]], July 1957]]

A few weeks after arriving in Vienna, Ligeti left for Cologne.<ref>{{cite news |last=Swed |first=Mark |date=28 May 1989 |title=Ligeti's Eerie Hungarian Rhapsodies |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51857568/ligeti-swed/ |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |location=Los Angeles |page=267 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref> There he met several key [[avant-garde]] figures and learned more contemporary musical styles and methods.{{sfn|Benjamin|2007}} These people included the composers [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]] and [[Gottfried Michael Koenig]], both then working on groundbreaking [[electronic music]]. During the summer, he attended the [[Darmstädter Ferienkurse]]. Ligeti worked in the [[Studio for Electronic Music (WDR)|Cologne Electronic Music Studio]] with Stockhausen and Koenig and was inspired by the sounds he heard there. However, he produced little electronic music of his own, instead concentrating on instrumental works which often contain electronic-sounding [[texture (music)|textures]].

After about three years' working with them, he fell out with the [[Cologne School (music)#Related ideas|Cologne School of Electronic Music]], because there was much factional in-fighting: "there were {{sic}} a lot of political fighting because different people, like Stockhausen, like Kagel wanted to be first. And I, personally, have no ambition to be first or to be important."<ref name="bbc.co.uk"/>

Between 1961 and 1971 he was guest professor for composition in Stockholm. In 1972 he became composer-in-residence at [[Stanford University]] in the United States.<ref name="bio">{{cite web|url=https://en.karstenwitt.com/artist/gy%C3%B6rgy-ligeti|website=karstenwitt.com|title=György Ligeti, Composer – Biography|access-date=3 January 2023}}</ref>

In 1973 Ligeti became professor of composition at the [[Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg|Hamburg Hochschule für Musik und Theater]], eventually retiring in 1989.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rhein |first=John von |date=18 October 2017 |title=At U. of C, a major homage to Ligeti |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51856833/ligeti-rhein/ |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |location=Chicago |page=4-3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref> While he was living in Hamburg, his wife Vera remained in Vienna with their son, [[Lukas Ligeti|Lukas]], who later also became a composer.<ref name="nytimes" />

Invited by [[Walter Fink]], Ligeti was the first composer featured in the annual [[Rheingau Musik Festival#Portraits of living composers|Komponistenporträt]] of the [[Rheingau Musik Festival]] in 1990.{{sfn|Anon.|n.d.(a)}}

Apart from his far-reaching interest in different styles of music, from Renaissance to African music, Ligeti was also interested in literature (including the writers [[Lewis Carroll]], [[Jorge Luis Borges]], and [[Franz Kafka]]), painting, architecture, science, and mathematics. He was especially fascinated by the [[fractal|fractal geometry]] of [[Benoit Mandelbrot]] and the writings of [[Douglas Hofstadter]].{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc={{page needed|date=August 2021}}}}

===Death===
[[File:Ligeti.jpg|thumb|Ligeti's grave in [[Vienna Central Cemetery]]]]
Ligeti's health deteriorated after the turn of the millennium; he died in Vienna on 12 June 2006, at the age of 83.<ref name="nytimes">{{harvnb|Griffiths|2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Dyer |first=Richard |date=13 June 2006 |title=Gyorgy Ligeti; influential composer of wry, startling pieces |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51858197/ligeti-obituary-dyer/ |work=[[The Boston Globe]]|page=23 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref> Although it was known that he had been ill for several years and had used a wheelchair for the last three years of his life, his family declined to release details of the cause of his death.{{sfn|Griffiths|2006}}

Austrian Chancellor [[Wolfgang Schüssel]] and Art Secretary {{ill|Franz Morak|de}} both paid tribute to Ligeti.<ref name="Standard">{{cite news |date=12 June 2006 |title=Reaktionen: "In einer Reihe mit Bartok, Stockhausen und Boulez" |url=https://derstandard.at/2478138/Reaktionen-In-einer-Reihe-mit-Bartok-Stockhausen-und-Boulez |work=[[Der Standard]] |location=Vienna |language=de |access-date=6 May 2019}}</ref> His funeral was held at [[Feuerhalle Simmering]].<ref name="Abschied">{{cite web |date=22 June 2006 |title=Abschied von György Ligeti |url=https://www.musicaustria.at/abschied-von-gyoergy-ligeti/ |work=music austria |publisher=Music Information Center Austria |location=Vienna |language=de |access-date=5 May 2019}}</ref> The memorial concert was performed by [[Pierre-Laurent Aimard]] and the [[Arnold Schoenberg Choir]].<ref name="Abschied" /> His ashes were buried at [[Vienna Central Cemetery]] in a ''grave of honor'' ({{langx|de|[[Ehrengrab]]|link=no}}).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.n-tv.de/archiv/Gyoergy-Ligeti-ist-tot-article185683.html |title=György Ligeti ist tot; Ehrengrab in Wien |language=de |access-date=7 November 2013}}</ref>

He was survived by his wife Vera and son [[Lukas Ligeti|Lukas]].<ref name="nytimes" /> The latter is a composer and percussionist based in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://lukasligeti.com/|title=Welcome to the website of composer/improvisor Lukas Ligeti|website=lukasligeti.com|access-date=3 January 2023}}</ref>

==Music==
{{See also|List of compositions by György Ligeti}}

===Compositions in Hungary===
Many of Ligeti's earliest works were written for chorus and included settings of folk songs. His largest work in this period was a graduation composition for the [[Budapest Academy of Music|Budapest Academy]], entitled ''Cantata for Youth Festival'', for four vocal soloists, chorus and orchestra. One of his earliest pieces now in the repertoire is his [[Sonata for Solo Cello (Ligeti)|''Cello Sonata'']], a work in two contrasting movements that were written in 1948 and 1953. It was initially banned by the Soviet-run [[Composer's Union]] and was not performed publicly for a quarter of a century.{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc=52}}

Ligeti's earliest works are often an extension of the musical language of [[Béla Bartók]]. Even his piano cycle ''[[Musica ricercata]]'' (1953), though written according to Ligeti with a "Cartesian" approach, in which he "regarded all the music I knew and loved as being... irrelevant",{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc=54}} the piece has been described by one biographer as from a world very close to Bartók's set of piano works, ''[[Mikrokosmos (Bartók)|Mikrokosmos]]''.{{sfn|Toop|1999|loc=38}} Ligeti's set comprises eleven pieces in all. The work is based on a simple restriction: the first piece uses exclusively one pitch A, heard in multiple [[octave]]s, and only at the very end of the piece is a second note, D, heard. The second piece uses three notes (E{{music|sharp}}, F{{music|sharp}}, and G), the third piece uses four, and so on, so that in the final piece all twelve notes of the [[chromatic scale]] are present.

Shortly after its composition, Ligeti arranged six of the movements of ''Musica ricercata'' for [[wind quintet]] under the title 'Six Bagatelles for Wind Quintet'. The Bagatelles were performed first in 1956, but not in their entirety: the last movement was censored by the Soviets for being too 'dangerous'.{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc=60}}

Because of Soviet censorship, his most daring works from this period, including ''Musica ricercata'' and his [[String Quartet No. 1 (Ligeti)|String Quartet No. 1 ''Métamorphoses nocturnes'']] (1953–1954), were written for the 'bottom drawer'. Composed of a single movement divided into seventeen contrasting sections linked [[Motif (music)|motivically]],{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc=63–64}} the First String Quartet is Ligeti's first work to suggest a personal style of composition. The string quartet was not performed until 1958, after he had fled Hungary for Vienna.{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc=75}}

===From 1956 to ''Le Grand Macabre''===
[[File:Compnist Gyorgy Ligeti , tijdens repetitie, Bestanddeelnr 932-8518.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.3|Ligeti (1 February 1984)]]
Upon arriving in Cologne, Ligeti began to write electronic music alongside [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]] and [[Gottfried Michael Koenig]] at the electronic studio of [[Westdeutscher Rundfunk|West German Radio (WDR)]]. He completed only two works in this medium, however—the pieces ''Glissandi'' (1957) and ''[[Artikulation (Ligeti)|Artikulation]]'' (1958)—before returning to instrumental music. A third work, originally entitled ''Atmosphères'' but later known as ''Pièce électronique Nr. 3'', was planned, but the technical limitations of the time prevented Ligeti from realizing it completely. It was finally realised in 1996 by the Dutch composers Kees Tazelaar and Johan van Kreij of the [[Institute of Sonology]].{{sfn|Iverson|2009|loc=92}}

Ligeti's music appears to have been subsequently influenced by his electronic experiments, and many of the sounds he created resembled electronic [[texture (music)|textures]]. Ligeti coined the term "[[micropolyphony]]" to describe the texture of the second movement of ''Apparitions'' (1958–59) and ''[[Atmosphères]]'' (1961). This texture is a similar to that of [[polyphony]], except that the polyphony is obscured in a dense and rich stack of pitches.{{sfn|Jones|n.d.}} Micropolyphony can be used to create the nearly static but slowly evolving works such as ''Atmosphères'' in which the individual instruments become hidden in a complex web of sound. According to Ligeti, after ''Apparitions'' and ''Atmosphères'', he "became famous".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ronsen.org/monkminkpinkpunk/9/gl4.html |title=A Budapest Interview with Gyorgy Ligeti |author=Istvan Szigeti |date=29 July 1983 |publisher=First published in New Hungarian Quarterly |access-date=18 November 2010}}</ref>

With ''Volumina'' (1961–62, revised 1966) for solo organ, Ligeti continued with [[Tone cluster|clusters of notes]], translated into blocks of sound. In this piece, Ligeti abandoned conventional music notation, instead using diagrams to represent general pitch areas, duration, and flurries of notes.<ref>{{AllMusic|class=composition|id=mc0002406515|title=György Ligeti: ''Volumina'', for organ|author=Robert Kirzinger}}</ref>

''[[Poème symphonique]]'' (1962) is a work for one hundred mechanical [[metronome]]s during his brief acquaintance with [[Fluxus]] movement.

''Aventures'' (1962), like its companion piece ''Nouvelles Aventures'' (1962–65), is a composition for three singers and instrumental septet, to a text (of Ligeti's own devising) that is without semantic meaning. In these pieces, each singer has five roles to play, exploring five areas of emotion, and they switch from one to the other so quickly and abruptly that all five areas are present throughout the piece.{{sfn|Plaistow|n.d.|loc=4}}

''[[Requiem (Ligeti)|Requiem]]'' (1963–65) is a work for soprano and mezzo-soprano soloists, twenty-part chorus (four each of soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, tenor, and bass), and orchestra. Though, at about half an hour, it is the longest piece he had composed up to that point,{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc=144}} Ligeti sets only about half of the [[Requiem]]'s traditional text: the "[[Introit]]us", the "[[Kyrie]]" (a completely [[chromatic]] quasi-[[fugue]], where the parts are a montage of [[melismatic]], skipping micropolyphony), and the "[[Dies irae]]"—dividing the latter sequence into two parts, "De die judicii" and "[[Lacrimosa (Requiem)|Lacrimosa]]".

''[[Lux Aeterna (Ligeti)|Lux Aeterna]]'' (1966) is a 16-voice ''a cappella'' piece whose text is also associated with the Latin Requiem.

Ligeti's [[Cello Concerto (Ligeti)|Cello Concerto]] (1966), which is dedicated to [[Siegfried Palm]], is composed of two movements: the first begins with an almost imperceptible cello which slowly shifts into static tone clusters with the orchestra before reaching a crescendo and slowly decaying, while the second is a virtuoso piece of dynamic atonal melody on the part of the cello.<ref>{{AllMusic|class=composition|id=mc0002384607|title=György Ligeti: Cello Concerto|author=Robert Kirzinger}}</ref>

''Lontano'' (1967), for full orchestra, is another example of micropolyphony, but the overall effect is closer to harmony, with complex woven textures and opacity of the sound giving rise to a harmonious effect. It has become a standard repertoire piece.<ref name="lontano">{{cite web | url=http://www.schott-music.com/shop/9/show,175056.html | title=György Ligeti – Lontano|publisher=[[Schott Music]] | access-date=22 November 2015}}</ref>

[[String Quartet No. 2 (Ligeti)|String Quartet No. 2]] (1968) consists of five movements. They differ widely from each other in their types of motion. In the first, the structure is largely broken up, as in ''Aventures''. In the second, everything is reduced to very slow motion, and the music seems to be coming from a distance, with great lyricism. The ''[[pizzicato]]'' third movement is a machine-like studies, hard and mechanical, whereby the parts playing repeated notes create a "granulated" continuum. In the fourth, which is fast and threatening, everything that happened before is crammed together. Lastly, in strong contrast, the fifth movement spreads itself out. In each movement, the same basic configurations return, but each time their colouring or viewpoint is different, so that the overall form only really emerges when one listens to all five movements in context.<ref name="Stephen Plaistow p. 3">{{harvnb|Plaistow|n.d.|loc=3}}</ref>

''[[Ramifications (Ligeti)|Ramifications]]'' (1968–69), completed a year before the Chamber Concerto, is scored for an ensemble of strings in twelve parts—seven violins, two violas, two cellos and a double bass—each of which may be taken by one player or several. The twelve are divided into two numerically equal groups but with the instruments in the first group tuned approximately a quarter-tone higher (four violins, a viola and a cello). As the group play, the one tuned higher inevitably tends to slide down toward the other, and both get nearer each other in pitch.<ref name="Stephen Plaistow p. 3"/>

In the ''Chamber Concerto'' (1969–70), several layers, processes and kinds of movement can take place on different planes simultaneously. In spite of frequent markings of "senza tempo", the instrumentalists are not given linear freedom; Ligeti insists on keeping his texture under strict control at any given moment. The form is like a "precision mechanism". Ligeti was always fascinated by machines that do not work properly and by the world of technology and automation. The use of periodic mechanical noises, suggesting not-quite-reliable machinery, occurs in many of his works. The scoring is for flute (doubling piccolo), oboe (doubling oboe d'amore and cor anglais), clarinet, bass clarinet (doubling second clarinet), horn, trombone, harpsichord (doubling Hammond organ), piano (doubling celesta), and solo string quintet.{{sfn|Plaistow|n.d.|loc=2}} He also wrote a Double Concerto for Flute, Oboe & Orchestra (1972).

Most of these compositions establish timbre, rather than the traditionally-favored dimensions of pitch and rhythm, as their principal formal parameter, a practice that has come to be known as [[sonorism]].{{sfn|Schell|2017}} From the 1970s, Ligeti turned away from sonorism and began to concentrate on rhythm. Pieces such as ''[[Continuum (Ligeti)|Continuum]]'' (1968) and ''Clocks and Clouds'' (1972–73) were written before he heard the music of [[Steve Reich]] and [[Terry Riley]] in 1972. But the second of his ''Three Pieces for Two Pianos'' (1976), entitled "Self-portrait with Reich and Riley (and Chopin in the background)", commemorates this affirmation and influence. During the 1970s, he also became interested in the [[polyphonic]] pipe music of the [[Banda people|Banda]]-Linda tribe from the [[Central African Republic]], which he heard through the recordings of one of his students.{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc=271–272}}

In 1977, Ligeti completed his only opera, ''[[Le Grand Macabre]]'', thirteen years after its initial commission. Loosely based on [[Michel de Ghelderode]]'s 1934 play, ''La balade du grand macabre'', it is a work of [[Absurd theatre]]—Ligeti called it an "anti-anti-opera"—in which [[Personifications of death|Death]] (Nekrotzar) arrives in the fictional city of Breughelland and announces that the end of the world will occur at midnight. Musically, ''Le Grand Macabre'' draws on techniques not associated with Ligeti's previous work, including [[quotation]]s and pseudo-quotations of other works{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc=230}} and the use of [[Consonance and dissonance|consonant]] thirds and sixths. After ''Le Grand Macabre'', Ligeti would abandon the use of [[pastiche]],{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc=244}} but would increasingly incorporate consonant harmonies (even [[major triad|major]] and [[minor triad]]s) into his work, albeit not in a [[diatonic]] context.

===After ''Le Grand Macabre''===
[[File:Michael Daugherty et al at ISCM World Music Days 1982.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.3|From left to right: György Ligeti, [[Lukas Ligeti]], Vera Ligeti, [[Conlon Nancarrow]], and [[Michael Daugherty]] at the [[ISCM]] World Music Days in [[Graz]], Austria, 1982]]

After ''Le Grand Macabre'', Ligeti struggled for some time to find a new style. Besides two short pieces for [[harpsichord]], he did not complete another major work until the [[Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano (Ligeti)|Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano]] in 1982, over four years after the opera. His music of the 1980s and 1990s continued to emphasise complex mechanical rhythms, often in a less densely chromatic idiom, tending to favour displaced major and minor triads and [[polytonality|polymodal]] structures. During this time, Ligeti also began to explore alternate tuning systems through the use of natural [[harmonic]]s for horns (as in the Horn Trio and [[Piano Concerto (Ligeti)|Piano Concerto]]) and [[scordatura]] for strings (as in the [[Violin Concerto (Ligeti)|Violin Concerto]]). Additionally, most of his works in this period are multi-movement works, rather than the extended single movements of ''Atmosphères'' and ''San Francisco Polyphony''.

From 1985 to 2001, Ligeti completed three books of [[Études (Ligeti)|Études]] for piano (Book I, 1985; Book II, 1988–94; Book III, 1995–2001). Comprising eighteen compositions in all, the Études draw from a diverse range of sources, including [[gamelan]],{{sfn|Wilson|1992|loc={{Page needed|date=January 2012|reason=The single word 'gamelan' cannot possibly be spread over the entire article.}}}}{{sfn|Chen|2007|loc=37}}<ref name="Arnowitt 2009">{{harvnb|Arnowitt|2009}}</ref> African [[polyrhythm]]s, Béla Bartók, [[Conlon Nancarrow]], [[Thelonious Monk]],<ref name="Arnowitt 2009" />{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc=292}} and [[Bill Evans]]. Book I was written as preparation for the Piano Concerto, which contains a number of similar [[Motif (music)|motivic]] and melodic elements. Ligeti's music from the last two decades of his life is unmistakable for its rhythmic complexity. Writing about his first book of Piano Études, the composer claims this rhythmic complexity stems from two vastly different sources of inspiration: the Romantic-era piano music of [[Chopin]] and [[Robert Schumann|Schumann]] and the [[Rhythm in Sub-Saharan Africa|indigenous music of sub-Saharan Africa]].{{sfn|Taylor|2003|loc=83}}

The difference between the earlier and later pieces lies in a new conception of [[pulse (music)|pulse]]. In the earlier works, the pulse is something to be divided into two, three and so on. The effect of these different subdivisions, especially when they occur simultaneously, is to blur the aural landscape, creating the micropolyphonic effect of Ligeti's music.{{sfn|Taylor|2003|loc=86}}

On the other hand, the later music—and a few earlier pieces such as ''[[Continuum (Ligeti)|Continuum]]''—treats the pulse as a musical atom, a common denominator, a basic unit, which cannot be divided further. Different rhythms appear through multiplications of the basic pulse, rather than divisions: this is the principle of African music seized on by Ligeti. It also appears in the music of [[Philip Glass]], [[Steve Reich]] and others; and significantly it shares much in common with the [[additive rhythm]]s of [[Balkan music|Balkan folk music]], the music of Ligeti's youth.{{sfn|Taylor|2003|loc=87}} He described the music of Conlon Nancarrow, with its extremely complex explorations of polyrhythmic complexity, as "the greatest discovery since [[Anton Webern|Webern]] and [[Charles Ives|Ives]]... something great and important for all music history! His music is so utterly original, enjoyable, perfectly constructed, but at the same time emotional... for me it's the best music of any composer living today."<ref>Quoted in {{harvnb|Gann|1995|loc=2}}</ref>

In 1988, Ligeti completed his Piano Concerto, writing that "I present my artistic credo in the ''Piano Concerto'': I demonstrate my independence from criteria of the traditional [[Avant-garde music|avantgarde]], as well as the fashionable [[Postmodern music|postmodernism]]."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.schott-music.com/shop/konzert-no153614.html|title=Concerto for Piano and Orchestra|publisher=[[Schott Music]]|access-date=7 June 2018}}</ref> Initial sketches of the Concerto began in 1980, but it was not until 1985 that he found a way forward and the work proceeded more quickly.{{sfn|Steinitz|2003|loc=315–316}} The Concerto explores many of the ideas worked out in the Études but in an orchestral context.

{{Panorama
|image   = Ligetifiddles.JPG
|height  = 200px
|width   = 
|alt     = Akros Percussion Collective with Nina Eidsheim
|caption = Performance of ''[[Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedűvel]]'' by the Akros Percussion Collective with Nina Eidsheim, soprano at the [[University of Akron]]. In this section of the piece, the percussionists play [[chromatic harmonica]]s (3 May 2009)
|dir     = 
|align   = center
}}
In 1993, Ligeti completed his [[Violin Concerto (Ligeti)|Violin Concerto]] after four years of work. Like the Piano Concerto, the Violin Concerto uses the wide range of techniques he had developed up until that point as well as the new ideas he was working out at the moment. Among other techniques, it uses a passacaglia,{{sfn|Schell|2018}} "[[microtonality]], rapidly changing [[texture (music)|textures]], comic juxtapositions... [[Hungarian folk music|Hungarian folk melodies]], [[Bulgarian dances|Bulgarian dance rhythms]], references to [[Medieval music|Medieval]] and [[Renaissance music]] and solo violin writing that ranges from the slow-paced and sweet-toned to the angular and fiery."{{sfn|Kozinn|2005}}

Other notable works from this period are the [[Viola Sonata (Ligeti)|Viola Sonata]] (1994) and the ''Nonsense Madrigals'' (1988–93), a set of six [[a cappella]] compositions that set English texts from [[William Brighty Rands]], [[Lewis Carroll]], and [[Heinrich Hoffman]]. The third Madrigal is a setting of the English [[alphabet]].

Ligeti's last works were the ''[[Hamburg Concerto]]'' for solo horn, four [[natural horn]]s and chamber orchestra (1998–99, revised 2003, dedicated to [[Marie-Luise Neunecker]]),  the [[song cycle]] ''[[Síppal, dobbal, nádihegedűvel]]'' ("With Pipes, Drums, Fiddles", 2000), and the eighteenth piano étude "Canon" (2001). The printed score and the manuscript of the ''[[Hamburg Concerto]]'' contain numerous errors and inconsistencies.<ref>Radio interview [https://www.raicultura.it/musica/articoli/2023/05/Le-infinite-vibrazioni-di-Gyorgy-Ligeti-ea51a3f0-1ac1-402a-adc6-d252499cb959.html "Le infinite vibrazioni di György Ligeti"] by RAI with Alessio Elia on his book</ref> The revision of the piece, realized by the Italian composer Alessio Elia and published in the book [https://edition-impronta.com/stage/en/katalog/hamburgisches-konzert-by-gyorgy-ligeti-alessio-elia/ ''The Hamburgisches Konzert by György Ligeti''], published by Edition Impronta, was used for the first revised performance of this work, realized by the Concerto Budapest Ligeti Ensemble with Szabolcs Zempléni as solo horn. The orchestra should have been conducted by [[Péter Eötvös|Peter Eötvös]], replaced due to indisposition by Gergely Vajda.<ref>The performance took place at [https://bmc.hu/en/programs/ligeti-100-ligeti-ensemble-peter-eotvos-andras-keller Budapest Music Center on 28 May 2023], on the centenary of the composer's birth, within the Festival Ligeti 100.</ref> Additionally, after ''Le Grand Macabre'', Ligeti planned to write a second opera, first to be based on [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[The Tempest]]'' and later on Carroll's ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'', but neither came to fruition.<ref name="Spinola">{{cite news |last=Spinola |first=Julia |date= 12 January 2010 |title=Alle Teufel auf Prosperos Insel |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buehne-und-konzert/sturm-oper-von-thomas-ades-alle-teufel-auf-prosperos-insel-1638029-p2.html |work=[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]] |location=Frankfurt |language=de |access-date=5 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="Clements">{{cite news |last=Clements |first=Andrew |date=9 July 2007 |title=Alice in Wonderland |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/jul/09/classicalmusicandopera |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London |access-date=5 May 2019}}</ref>
{{Clear}}

==Legacy==
Ligeti has been described as "together with [[Pierre Boulez|Boulez]], [[Luciano Berio|Berio]], [[Karlheinz Stockhausen|Stockhausen]], and [[John Cage|Cage]] as one of the most innovative and influential among progressive figures of his time".{{sfn|Cummings|n.d.}} From about 1960, Ligeti's work became better known and respected.{{Clarify|date=July 2018}}<!--Better known than what? The music of Boulez, Stockhausen, and Cage? If this is what is meant, then a citation will be needed.--> His best-known work was written during the period from ''Apparitions'' to ''Lontano'', which includes ''Atmosphères'', ''Volumina'', ''Aventures'' and ''Nouvelles Aventures'', ''Requiem'', ''Lux Aeterna'', and his Cello Concerto; as well as his opera ''Le Grand Macabre''. In recent years, his three books of piano études have also become well known and are the subject of the ''Inside the Score'' project of pianist [[Pierre-Laurent Aimard]].{{sfn|Service|2015}}

===Music in the films of Stanley Kubrick===
Ligeti's music is best known to the public not acquainted with 20th century classical music for its use in three films of [[Stanley Kubrick]]'s, which gained him a world-wide audience.<ref name="nytimes" /> The [[2001: A Space Odyssey (soundtrack)|soundtrack]] of ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'' includes excerpts from four of his pieces: ''Atmosphères'', ''Lux Aeterna'', ''Requiem'' and ''Aventures''.<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0000202725|title=''2001: A Space Odyssey'' (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)}}</ref> ''Atmosphères'' is heard during the "Star Gate" sequence, with portions also heard in the Overture and Intermission. ''Lux Aeterna'' is heard in the moon-bus scene en route to the Tycho monolith. The ''Kyrie'' sequence of his ''Requiem'' is heard over the first three monolith encounters. An electronically altered version of ''Aventures'', unlisted in the film credits, is heard in the cryptic final scenes. The music was used, and in some cases modified, without Ligeti's knowledge, and without full [[copyright]] clearance. When he learned about the use of his music in the film, he "successfully sued for having had his music distorted"{{sfn|Agel|1970|loc=12}} and they [[settled out of court]]. Kubrick sought permission and compensated Ligeti for use of his music in later films.{{sfn|Crilly|2011|loc=246}}

''Lux Aeterna'' was used again in [[Peter Hyams]]'s 1984 sequel of ''2001'', ''[[2010 (film)|2010: The Year We Make Contact ]]''.<ref name="allegro-c.de" />

A later Kubrick film, ''[[The Shining (film)|The Shining]]'', uses small portions of ''Lontano'' for orchestra.{{sfn|Crilly|2011|loc=245n2}}

One motif from the second movement of Ligeti's ''Musica ricercata'' is used at pivotal moments in Kubrick's ''[[Eyes Wide Shut]]''.{{sfn|Powrie|Stilwell|2006|loc=7}} At the German premiere of that film, by which time Kubrick had died, his widow was escorted by Ligeti himself.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Platt|first=Russell|date=2008-08-12|title=Clarke, Kubrick, and Ligeti: A Tale|language=en-US|magazine=The New Yorker|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/goings-on/clarke-kubrick-and-ligeti-a-tale|access-date=2023-05-28|issn=0028-792X}}</ref>

===Music in other films and media===

Ligeti's work has also been used in numerous films by other directors. ''Lontano'' was also used in [[Martin Scorsese]]'s 2010 psychological thriller film ''[[Shutter Island (film)|Shutter Island]]''.<ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0001767560|title=''Shutter Island'' (Music from the Motion Picture)}}</ref> The first movement of the Cello Concerto was used in the [[Michael Mann]] 1995 crime film ''[[Heat (1995 film)|Heat]]''.<ref name="allegro-c.de">{{harvnb|Anon.|2011}}</ref> The ''Requiem'' was used in the 2014 film [[Godzilla (2014 film)|''Godzilla'']].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.soundtrack.net/movie/godzilla-2014/|title=''Godzilla'' (2014) – Soundtrack.net|date=12 May 2014|access-date=28 May 2014}}</ref> The Cello Concerto and the Piano Concerto were used in [[Yorgos Lanthimos]]' 2017 film ''[[The Killing of a Sacred Deer]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.soundtrack.net/album/the-killing-of-a-sacred-deer/|title=''The Killing of a Sacred Deer'' (2017) – Soundtrack.net|date=20 October 2017|access-date=13 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{AllMusic|class=album|id=mw0003111192|title=''The Killing of a Sacred Deer'' (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack}}</ref>

His music has also been used in television and radio. ''Lontano'', ''Atmosphères'', and the first movement of the Cello Concerto were used in [[Sophie Fiennes]]'s documentary ''[[Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow]]'', about the German post-war artist [[Anselm Kiefer]].<ref name="overyourcities">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/13/over-your-cities-grass-review | title=Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow – review |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]| date=13 October 2010 | access-date=31 January 2016}}</ref> ''Lontano'', ''Melodien'', and ''Volumina'' were used in [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Primary and Secondary Phases#Fit the First|Fit the First]], [[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Primary and Secondary Phases#Fit the Fifth|Fit the Fifth]], and {{H2G2|radio|6|link=yes}} of ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' as background music to sections of narrative from the Guide.<ref name="scripts">{{cite book|title=The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy: The Original Radio Script|author=Adams, Douglas|isbn=978-0-330-29288-7|year=1985}}</ref>

==Awards==
[[File:György Ligeti 2023 stamp of Moldova.jpg|thumb|Ligeti on a 2023 stamp of Moldova]]
* [[Beethoven Prize]] of Bonn for ''Requiem'' (1967)<ref name="Knop">{{harvnb|Knop|2010}}</ref>
* [[UNESCO]] [[International Rostrum of Composers]] (1969)<ref name="Knop" />
* [[Berliner Kunstpreis|Berlin Art Prize]] (1972)<ref name="Knop" />
* [[Bach Prize of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg]] (1975)<ref name="Knop" />
* [[Pour le Mérite for Sciences and Arts]] (1975)<ref>{{cite web |date=2018 |title=Pour le Mérite: György Ligeti |url=http://www.orden-pourlemerite.de/plm/mgvita/ligeti1923_vita.pdf |work=www.orden-pourlemerite.de |access-date=10 May 2018 |archive-date=18 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818092815/http://orden-pourlemerite.de/plm/mgvita/ligeti1923_vita.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[University of Louisville]] [[Grawemeyer Award (Music Composition)|Grawemeyer Award]] for Music Composition (Études for Piano) (1986)<ref name=grawemeyer.org>{{cite web|title=1986– Gyorgy Ligeti|url=http://grawemeyer.org/music/previous-winners/1986-gyorgy-ligeti.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131023072838/http://grawemeyer.org/music/previous-winners/1986-gyorgy-ligeti.html|archive-date=23 October 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Dyer |first=Richard |date=7 March 1993 |title=Boston welcomes 'second greatest' living composer |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/51857923/ligeti-dyer/ |work=[[The Boston Globe]]|page=228 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=22 May 2020}}</ref>
* [[Austrian Decoration for Science and Art]] (1987)<ref name="Knop" />
* Honorary Ring of the Vienna (1987)<ref name="Knop" />
* Commandeur dans l'[[Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]] (1988)<ref name="György Ligeti, Profile">{{harvnb|Schott Music|n.d.a}}</ref>
* Prix de composition musicale de la [[Prince Pierre Foundation|Fondation Prince Pierre de Monaco]] (1988)<ref name="György Ligeti, Profile"/>
* [[Léonie Sonning Music Prize]] (Denmark, 1990)<ref name="Knop" />
* [[Grand Austrian State Prize for Music]] (1990)<ref name="Knop" />
* [[Praemium Imperiale]] (1991)<ref name="Knop" />
* [[Balzan Prize]] (1991)<ref name="Knop" />
* Honorary Member of the [[Royal Academy of Music]], London (1992){{sfn|Schott Music|n.d.b}}
* [[Ernst von Siemens Music Prize]], Germany (1993)<ref name="Knop" />
* [[Rolf Schock Prizes|Rolf Schock Prize]] for Musical Arts (1995)<ref name="Knop" />
* Music Award of the UNESCO (1996)<ref name="Knop" />
* [[Wolf Prize in Arts]], Israel (1996)<ref name="Knop" />
* [[Wihuri Sibelius Prize]], Finland (2000)<ref name="Knop" />
* [[Kyoto Prize]] (2001)<ref name="Knop" />
* Medal of Arts and Sciences of the City of Hamburg (2003)<ref name="Knop" />
* [[Theodor W. Adorno Award]] (2003)<ref name="Knop" />
* [[Kossuth Prize]], Hungary (2003)<ref name="Knop" />
* [[Polar Music Prize]] (2004)<ref name="Knop" />
* [[Frankfurter Musikpreis]] (2005)<ref name="Knop" />

===Honorary doctorates===
* Honorary doctor from the [[Universität Hamburg]] (1988)<ref name="Knop" />

==Notable students==
{{For LMST|György|Ligeti}}

==Writings==
{{div col|colwidth=45em}}
* {{cite journal|last=Ligeti|first=György|year=1957|title=Zur III. Klaviersonate von Boulez|journal=[[Die Reihe]]|volume=5: "Berichte—Analyse"|pages=38–40|ref=none}} English as "Some Remarks on Boulez' 3rd Piano Sonata", translated by Leo Black. ''Die Reihe'' [English edition] 5: "Reports—Analyses" (1961): 56–58.
* {{cite journal|last=Ligeti|first=György|author-mask=1|year=1958|title=Pierre Boulez. Entscheidung und Automatik in der ''Structure 1a''|journal=Die Reihe|volume=4: "Junge Komponisten"|pages=38–63|ref=none}} English as "Pierre Boulez: Decision and Automaticism in ''Structure 1a''", translated by Leo Black. ''Die Reihe'' [English edition] 4: "Young Composers" (1960): 36–62.
* {{cite journal|last=Ligeti|first=György|author-mask=1|year=1960|title=Wandlungen der musikalischen Form|journal=Die Reihe|volume=7: "Form—Raum"|pages=5–17|ref=none}}. English as "Metamorphoses of Musical Form", translated by [[Cornelius Cardew]]. ''Die Reihe'' [English edition] 7 "Form—Space" (1964): 5–19.
* — (1960). "Zustände, Ereignisse, Wandlungen: Bemerkungen zu meinem Orchesterstück ''Apparitions''". ''Bilder und Blätter'' 11. Reprinted as "Zustände, Ereignisse, Wandlungen". ''Melos'' 34 (1967): 165–169. English as "States, Events, Transformations", translated by Jonathan W. Bernard. ''[[Perspectives of New Music]]'' 31, no. 1 (Winter 1993): 164–171.
* — (1978). "On Music and Politics", translated by Wes Blomster. ''Perspectives of New Music'' 16, no. 2 (Spring–Summer): 19–24. Originally published in German, in the ''Darmstädter Beiträge zur Neuen Musik'' 13 (1973): 42–46.
* — (1987). "A Viennese Exponent of Understatement: Personal Reflections on [[Friedrich Cerha]]", translated by Inge Goodwin. ''[[Tempo (journal)|Tempo]]'', New Series, no. 161/162: "...An Austrian Quodlibet..." (June–September): 3–5.
* — (1988). "On My Piano Concerto", translated by [[Robert Cogan]]. ''[[Sonus (journal)|Sonus: A Journal of Investigations into Global Musical Possibilities]]'' 9, no. 1 (Fall): 8–13.
* {{cite magazine|last1=Ligeti|first1=György|author1-mask=with|author2=[[Peter Sellars]]|date=Winter 1959|title=''Le Grand Macabre'': An Opera in Two Acts (Four Scenes) 1974–1977|magazine=[[Grand Street (magazine)|Grand Street]]|number=59: "Time"|pages=206–214|ref=none}}
* — (2001). ''Neuf essais sur la musique'', translated by Catherine Fourcassié. Geneva: Contrechamps.
{{div col end}}

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{div col|colwidth=45em}}
* {{cite book|last=Agel|first=Jerome|year=1970|title=The Making of Kubrick's 2001|location=New York|publisher=New American Library|isbn=978-0-451-07139-2}}
* {{cite web|author=Anon.|year=2011|url=http://www.allegro-c.de/formate/cmm.htm|title=Classical Music in Movies: A Listing by Composers|publisher=Braunschweig University Library|access-date=21 November 2015}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Anon.|n.d.(a)}}|reference=Anon. n.d.(a). {{cite web|url=https://www.mphil.de/personen/gyoergy-ligeti.html|title=György Ligeti|publisher=[[Munich Philharmonic]]|access-date=22 November 2015|archive-date=12 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140112072529/http://www.mphil.de/personen/gyoergy-ligeti.html|url-status=dead}}}}
* {{cite web|last=Arnowitt|first=Michael|year=2009|url=http://homepages.sover.net/~foodsong/ligeti.htm|title=Ligeti and His Influences: Music to Wow both the Mind and the Body|website=Michael Arnowitt homepage|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091213154727/http://homepages.sover.net/~foodsong/ligeti.htm|access-date=4 February 2010|archive-date=13 December 2009}}
* {{cite news|last=Benjamin|first=George|author-link=George Benjamin (composer)|date=23 February 2007|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2007/feb/23/classicalmusicandopera1|title=In the Realm of the Senses|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}
* {{cite thesis|last=Chen|first=Yung-jen|year=2007|title=Analysis and Performance Aspects of György Ligeti's 'Études pour piano': 'Fanfares' and 'Arch-en ciel'|type=DMA diss|location=Columbus|publisher=Ohio State University}}
* {{cite book|last=Crilly|first=Ciarán|year=2011|chapter=The Bigger Picture: Ligeti's Music and the Films of Stanley Kubrick|title=György Ligeti: Of Foreign Lands and Strange Sounds|editor1=Louise Duchesneau|editor2=Wolfgang Marx|pages=245–254|location=Woodbridge (Suffolk) and Rochester (New York)|publisher=Boydell & Brewer|isbn=978-1-84383-550-9}}
* {{wikicite|ref={{harvid|Cummings|n.d.}}|reference={{AllMusic|last=Cummings|first=Robert|date=n.d.|class=artist|id=mn0001319058|tab=biography|title=György Ligeti: Artist Biography}}. Accessed 22 October 2013.}}
* {{cite book|last=Gann|first=Kyle|author-link=Kyle Gann|year=1995|title=The Music of Conlon Nancarrow|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-02807-3}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|last=Griffiths|first=Paul|author-link=Paul Griffiths (writer)|year=2001|title=Ligeti, György (Sándor)|encyclopedia=[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]|edition=2nd|editor1=[[Stanley Sadie]]|editor2=[[John Tyrrell (musicologist)|John Tyrrell]]|location=London|publisher=Macmillan}}
* {{cite news|last=Griffiths|first=Paul|date=13 June 2006|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/13/arts/music/13ligeti.html|title=Gyorgy Ligeti, Central-European Composer of Bleakness and Humor, Dies at 83|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|quote=Gyorgy Ligeti, the Central European composer whose music was among the most innovative of the last half of the 20th century – sometimes eerie, sometimes humorous usually fantastical and always polished – died yesterday in Vienna. He was 83. His family confirmed his death but declined to divulge the cause, saying only that he had been ill for several years.}}
* {{cite book|last1=Hauptfeld|first1=Georg|last2=Heller|first2=Ágnes|author2-link=Ágnes Heller|title=Der Wert des Zufalls – Ágnes Heller über ihr Leben und ihre Zeit|language=de|date=2018|publisher=Edition Konturen|location=Wien|isbn=978-3-902968-38-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KIt-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT22}}
* {{cite thesis|last=Iverson|first=Jennifer Joy|year=2009|url=http://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/6905|title=Historical Memory and György Ligeti's Sound-Mass Music 1958–1968|type=Ph.D. thesis|location=Austin|publisher=University of Texas, Butler School of Music}}
* {{cite web|last=Jones|first=Elliott|date=n.d.|url=https://courses.candelalearning.com/musicx15xmaster/chapter/micropolyphony/|title=Micropolyphony|website=candelalearning.com|access-date=22 November 2015|archive-date=11 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411122653/https://courses.candelalearning.com/musicx15xmaster/chapter/micropolyphony/|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite book|last=Knop|first=Frederik|year=2010|chapter=György Ligeti|title=[[Lexikon verfolgter Musiker und Musikerinnen der NS-Zeit]]|editor1=[[Claudia Maurer Zenck]]|editor2=[[Peter Petersen (musicologist)|Peter Petersen]]|location=Hamburg|publisher=University of Hamburg|chapter-url=https://www.lexm.uni-hamburg.de/object/lexm_lexmperson_00002626|language=de}}
* {{cite news|last=Kozinn|first=Allan|author-link=Allan Kozinn|date=14 November 2005|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/14/arts/music/14lige.html|title=The Prankster as Omnivore|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}
* {{cite AV media|last=Plaistow|first=Stephen|date=n.d.|type=liner notes|title=Ligeti: Chamber Concerto, Ramifications, String Quartet No. 2, Aventures, Lux aeterna|id=CD 423 244–2|location=Hamburg|publisher=Deutsche Grammophon}}
* {{cite book|last1=Powrie|first1=Phil|last2=Stilwell|first2=Robynn Jeananne|year=2006|title=Changing Tunes: The Use of Pre-Existing Music in Film|publisher=Ashgate Publishing|isbn=978-0-7546-5137-6}}
* {{cite web|last=Schell|first=Michael|year=2017|url=https://www.secondinversion.org/2017/06/19/gyorgy-ligetis-musical-odyssey/|title=György Ligeti's Musical Odyssey|website=SecondInversion.org|access-date=4 April 2018}}
* {{cite web|last=Schell|first=Michael|year=2018|url=https://www.secondinversion.org/2018/01/03/the-late-works-of-gyorgy-ligeti-1923-2006/|title=The Late Works of György Ligeti|website=secondinversion.org|access-date=4 April 2018}}
* {{cite web|author=[[Schott Music]]|date=n.d.a|url=http://www.schott-music.com/shop/persons/featured/11540/|title=György Ligeti: Profile|access-date=14 January 2011|archive-date=1 February 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130201195814/http://www.schott-music.com/shop/persons/featured/11540/|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite web|author=Schott Music|date=n.d.b|url=http://www.schott-music.com/shop/persons/featured/11540/vitae/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130202011844/http://www.schott-music.com/shop/persons/featured/11540/vitae/|title=György Ligeti: Chronology|access-date=21 October 2009|archive-date=2 February 2013|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite book|last=Searby|first=Michael|year=2010|title=Ligeti's Stylistic Crisis: Transformation in His Musical Style 1974–1985|location=Lanham, Maryland|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7250-9}}
* {{cite news|last=Service|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Service|date=20 July 2015|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2015/jul/20/pierre-laurent-aimard-ligeti-piano-music-etudes|title=Pierre-Laurent Aimard Opens a World of Imagination in Ligeti's Piano Music|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=11 December 2015}}
* {{cite book|last=Steinitz|first=Richard|year=2003|title=György Ligeti: Music of the Imagination|location=London|publisher=Faber and Faber|isbn=978-0-571-17631-1|postscript=;}} Boston: Northeastern University Press. {{ISBN|978-1-55553-551-3}}.
* {{cite journal|last=Taylor|first=Stephen Andrew|year=2003|url=http://www.stephenandrewtaylor.net/taylor-ligeti,africa.pdf|title=For György Ligeti on His 80th Birthday: Ligeti, Africa and Polyrhythm|journal=The World of Music|volume=45|number=2|series=Traditional Music and Composition|pages=83–94}}
* {{cite book|last=Toop|first=Richard|author-link=Richard Toop|year=1999|title=György Ligeti|location=London|publisher=Phaidon|isbn=978-0-7148-3795-6}}
* {{cite web|last=Tusa|first=John|author-link=John Tusa|year=2001|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00nc1k8|title=The John Tusa Interviews: Transcript of the John Tusa Interview with Gyorgy Ligeti|website=[[BBC Radio 3]]|access-date=23 January 2012}}
* {{cite journal|last=Wilson|first=Peter Niklas|year=1992|title=Interkulturelle Fantasien: György Ligetis Klavieretüden Nr 7 und 8|journal=Melos: Jahrbuch für zeitgenössische Musik|number=51|series=Klaviermusik des 20. Jahrhunderts|pages=63–84}}
{{div col end}}

===Films===
* {{cite web | title=Kosmos Ligeti – Die ganze Doku | website=[[Arte]] | url=https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/109360-000-A/kosmos-ligeti/ | language=de | access-date=28 May 2023}}

==Further reading==
{{div col}}
* Bauer, Amy. 2011. ''Ligeti's Laments: Nostalgia, Exoticism, and the Absolute.'' Aldershot: Ashagte. {{ISBN|978-1-4094-0041-7}}.
* Bauer, Amy, and Márton Kerékfy, eds. 2017. ''György Ligeti's Cultural Identities''. Routledge, 2017. {{ISBN|978-1-4724-7364-6|}}
* Cuciurean, John. 2000. "A Theory of Pitch, Rhythm, and Intertextual Allusion for the Late Music of György Ligeti", Ph.D. dissertation. State University of New York at Buffalo.
* Cuciurean, John. 2012. "Aspects of Harmonic Structure, Voice-Leading and Aesthetic Function in György Ligeti's ''In zart fliessender Bewegung''." ''Contemporary Music Review'' 31/2–3: 221–238.
* Drott, Eric. 2011. "Lines, Masses, Micropolyphony: Ligeti's Kyrie and the 'Crisis of the Figure'". ''[[Perspectives of New Music]]'' 49, no. 1 (Winter):4–46.
* Edwards, Peter. 2016. ''György Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre: Postmodernism, Musico-Dramatic Form and the Grotesque''. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. {{ISBN|978-1-4724-5698-4}}
* [[Constantin Floros|Floros, Constantin]]. 2014. ''György Ligeti: Beyond Avant-Garde and Postmodernism'', translated by Ernest Bernhardt-Kabisch. Frankfurt-am-Main: Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften. {{ISBN|978-3-631-65499-6}}
* [[Paul Griffiths (writer)|Griffiths, Paul]]. 1997. ''György Ligeti''. London: Robson Books. {{ISBN|978-1-86105-058-8}}
* Levy, Benjamin R. 2017. ''Metamorphosis in Music: The Compositions of György Ligeti in the 1950s and 1960s''. Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-938199-9|}}
* Lobanova. Marina. 2002. ''György Ligeti: Style, Ideas, Poetics''. Studia Slavica Musicologica 29. Berlin: Verlag Ernst Kuhn. {{ISBN|978-3-928864-90-9}}.
* Petersen, Peter, and Albrecht Schneider. 2003. "György Ligetis Zehn Stücke für Bläserquintett (1968)." ''Musiktheorie'' 18, no. 3:195–222.
* {{cite web|last=Sire|first=Adeline|date=25 January 2012|url=http://www.theworld.org/2012/01/mohammed-fairouz-tahrir|title=Composer Mohammed Fairouz's Orchestral Take on the Tahrir Square Uprising|website=BBC/PRI [[The World (radio program)|The World]]|access-date=24 August 2012|ref=none|archive-date=21 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521162552/http://www.theworld.org/2012/01/mohammed-fairouz-tahrir/|url-status=dead}}
* Trask, Simon. "The Pioneer". 1990. ''Music Technology'' 4, no. 6 (May): 54. {{issn|0957-6606}}, {{oclc|24835173}}
* [[Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation|Wihuri Foundation]]. n.d. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20110423032658/http://www.wihurinrahasto.fi/prizes.html Wihuri Foundation for International Prizes]". ( Accessed 5 March 2010).
* {{cite web | title=Musik für den Weltraum: Zum 100. Geburtstag von György Ligeti – neue musikzeitung | website=[[nmz]] | date=27 May 2023 | url=https://www.nmz.de/kiz/nachrichten/musik-fuer-den-weltraum-zum-100-geburtstag-von-gyoergy-ligeti | language=de | access-date=28 May 2023}}
* {{cite web | last=Service | first=Tom | author-link=Tom Service | title=A guide to György Ligeti's music | website=[[The Guardian]] | date=27 August 2012 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/tomserviceblog/2012/aug/27/gyorgy-ligeti-contemporary-music-guide | access-date=28 May 2023}}
* {{cite web | title=Clocks and clouds | website=Berliner Philharmoniker | url=https://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/stories/on-the-100th-birthday-of-ligeti/ | access-date=28 May 2023}}
* {{cite book | last=Marx | first=Wolfgang | title=I Don't Belong Anywhere | date=11 August 2022 | publisher=Brepols | isbn=978-2-503-60240-0}}
* {{cite book | last=Klüppelholz | first=Werner | title=Die Avantgarde war ein Irrtum | date=2023 | publisher=Wolke V.-G. | isbn=978-3-95593-324-1 | language=de}}
* {{cite book | last=Elia | first=Alessio | title=The "Hamburgisches Konzert" by György Ligeti | url=https://edition-impronta.com/stage/en/katalog/hamburgisches-konzert-by-gyorgy-ligeti-alessio-elia/ | date=2023 | publisher=Impronta-Edition UG | isbn=9783000752407}}
{{div col end}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
'''Obituaries and remembrances'''
*[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/292812.stm The BBC obituary]
* [https://www.theguardian.com/news/2006/jun/14/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries ''Obituary for György Ligeti''], Plaistow, Stephen. ''[[The Guardian]]'', 14 June 2006, Retrieved 14 June 2006.

'''Other'''
*{{official website|http://www.gyoergy-ligeti.de/}} (in German)
* {{cite web | title=Composer | website=György Ligeti | date=1 May 2021 | url=https://en.gyorgy-ligeti.com/ | ref={{sfnref | György Ligeti | 2021}} | access-date=28 May 2023}}
* {{cite web | title=György Ligeti | website=Schott Music | date=28 May 1923 | url=https://www.schott-music.com/en/person/index/index/urlkey/gyoergy-ligeti | ref={{sfnref | Schott Music | 1923}} | access-date=28 May 2023}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20051231164333/http://www.gyoergy-ligeti.de/ www.gyoergy-ligeti.de/] page from Ligeti's publisher Schott, with non-proprietary audio files
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040414141420/http://www.essentialsofmusic.com/composer/ligeti.html EssentialsofMusic.com: Gyorgy Ligeti] requires proprietary realmedia player
*[http://secondinversion.org/2017/06/19/gyorgy-ligetis-musical-odyssey/ György Ligeti's Musical Odyssey] focusing on music used in ''2001: A Space Odyssey''
*[https://www.secondinversion.org/2018/01/03/the-late-works-of-gyorgy-ligeti-1923-2006/ The Late Works of György Ligeti] from Second Inversion and Michael Schell
*[http://www.compositiontoday.com/articles/ligeti.asp CompositionToday&nbsp;– Ligeti article and review of works]
*[https://sites.google.com/site/ligeticomposer/home Collection of research on Ligeti's music and links to recordings.]
*[https://www.explorethescore.org/pgs/ligeti/ligeti_homepage.html Interactive scores of Ligeti's piano works with Pierre-Laurent Aimard.]

{{György Ligeti}}
{{Modernist composers}}
{{Navboxes
|title= Awards for György Ligeti
|list1=
{{Ernst von Siemens Music Prize}}
{{GrawemeyerAwardMusicComposition}}
{{Léonie Sonning Music Prize laureates}}
{{Polar Music Prize}}
{{Schock Prize laureates}}
{{Wihuri Sibelius Prize}}
{{Wolf Prize in Arts}}
{{Bach Prize of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg}}
}}
{{Portal bar|Biography|Classical music|Hungary}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ligeti, Gyorgy}}
[[Category:György Ligeti| ]]
[[Category:1923 births]]
[[Category:2006 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Hungarian classical composers]]
[[Category:Austrian classical composers]]
[[Category:Austrian Jews]]
[[Category:Austrian people of Hungarian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres]]
[[Category:Composers for cello]]
[[Category:Composers for piano]]
[[Category:Composers for pipe organ]]
[[Category:Composers for violin]]
[[Category:Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg]]
[[Category:Honorary members of the Royal Academy of Music]]
[[Category:Honorary members of the Royal Philharmonic Society]]
[[Category:Hungarian male classical composers]]
[[Category:Austrian male classical composers]]
[[Category:Romanian emigrants to Hungary]]
[[Category:Hungarian emigrants to Austria]]
[[Category:Hungarian Jews]]
[[Category:Deutsche Grammophon artists]]
[[Category:Jewish classical composers]]
[[Category:Kyoto laureates in Arts and Philosophy]]
[[Category:Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts]]
[[Category:Microtonal composers]]
[[Category:Naturalised citizens of Austria]]
[[Category:People from Târnăveni]]
[[Category:Pupils of Zoltán Kodály]]
[[Category:Rolf Schock Prize laureates]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Grand Austrian State Prize]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale]]
[[Category:Transylvanian Jews]]
[[Category:Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medallists]]
[[Category:Wolf Prize in Arts laureates]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Léonie Sonning Music Prize]]
[[Category:International Rostrum of Composers prize-winners]]
[[Category:Jewish classical pianists]]
[[Category:Ernst von Siemens Music Prize winners]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:Hungarian World War II forced labourers]]
[[Category:20th-century Hungarian male musicians]]
[[Category:Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery]]
[[Category:Members of the Széchenyi Academy of Literature and Arts]]