THE ELECTRONIC WORKS OF GYÖRGY LIGETI AND THEIR ...

etween channels, most evident at 1'33" (see Figure 3.13) where material fades out of the
right channel and into the left. This aides the second objective of Phase 1, the
establishment of a polyphony between overlapping regions. Region H enters in this newly
opened space at 1'42", and continues the motion towards increasing density that Ligeti
establishes in Stage I.
The second phase begins as Region J replaces Region G in the left channel and
continues this polyphony, working, as Phase 2 of Stage I did, to introduce more diverse
materials. The materials of Region J transform very quickly from compact to diffuse as
well as in other dimensions, and thus accelerate the trend towards internal diversification
within one strand of this polyphony. Meanwhile the other strand (the continuation of
Region H) is cast in a new light as the number of associations between these originally
distinct regions increases–a process which can be viewed as an example of what Ligeti
terms “amalgamation” in the description of the piece quoted at the beginning of this
analysis.
Region G, Phase 1, general features
The continuous streaming of concurrent regions into this polyphony requires that
the sound types within each strand remain fairly homogenous, this is also true if the
listener is to perceive the transfer of one region’s material from one channel to another,
especially with the precedents set by Stage I, where regions alternated regularly between
the right and left. By examining the spectrograph of the entire region (Figure 3.14); we
can see that Region G is very consistent in its use of compact materials and oblique,
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