THE ELECTRONIC WORKS OF GYÖRGY LIGETI AND THEIR ...

Dynamics and Attack Strength/Density
If this registral movement is less dramatic than in Region A, Region B’s trends
towards more prevalent and pronounced attacks more than make up for this. Event 1
begins with around 9 clear attacks, but is followed by a long pause, which mitigates the
overall density of the passage; in fact, if one considers the first 2 seconds as introductory,
and less essential to the shape of the passage as a whole, the bulk (3 seconds) of the first
event is one slow decay. Event 2 is quite sparse, consisting of only two oblique sine tones
over 3 seconds. Consequently, the nearly 14 distinct attacks of Event 3 make the final
event stand out as the densest of the region. The increase in volume is, again, subtle, but,
still coupled with this increase in attack density the net result is a sense of growth and
acceleration parallel to that of Region A.
Connections between Regions A and B
A nice connection between Regions A and B is the way in which pitches emerge in
the low registers. The two low impulses at the end of Event A-1, to which I have referred
above, are, noteworthy, in their context, for emphasizing the lower part of the wedge-like
registral expansion. Nevertheless, in a larger context they are still faint, and intervening
material, emphasizing the upper part of this wedge, complicates their perception as a
gesture. The end of Event A-2, then introduces pairs of impulses as a gesture–first the
diffuse pair, and then the compact pair, which harkens back to the end of A-1, suggesting
a kind of “ending gesture” consisting of two low impulses. Furthermore, across these two
events, the low impulses move from being faint and imbedded within a larger motion to
being clearly presented in pairs–each time more distinct. This prepares the entrance of
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