THE ELECTRONIC WORKS OF GYÖRGY LIGETI AND THEIR ...

Stage II
In the transitional second stage, shown below in Figure 3.4, the use of overlapping
material occurs on a much larger scale, and within these larger overlapping regions, Ligeti
expands the type of internal transformations used in shaping gestures. Whereas the
regions of Stage I, and particularly those of Phase 2, underwent change from one sonic
character to another using discrete steps, the regions of the Stage II, and particularly
Region G, begin to use not only discrete, but also gradually continuous transformations,
which often take the form of glissandi and crescendo or diminuendo gestures. A very
important development here involves a smooth transition where sound moves from one
channel to another, which helps introduce Region H concurrently with the continuation of
G, dramatically increasing the density of the whole texture. I will consider the extent of
Region G, including this channel shift and the beginning of Region H, as the first phase of
the transition, and the continuation of Region H, overlapping extensively with Region J 29
as the second. While this division is not as abrupt as that between phases of the first
stage, it reflects an increase in the degree of change present in the second phase. This
second phase focuses on preserving the smooth, glissando and crescendo gestures of
Region G, while transforming the consistent pitched sound of harmonic and sub-harmonic
spectra, typical of the earlier region, into more noise-based events, thus creating new kinds
of connections between noise-based and pitch-based events.
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I do not identify a Region I to avoid confusion with the roman numerals used elsewhere.
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