THE ELECTRONIC WORKS OF GYÖRGY LIGETI AND THEIR ...

further subdivide Event 3 into 3 parts, labeled a, b, and c in the spectrograph above. Since
the sound characteristics of Region J are quite different from event to event, I will first
describe the events in order and then provide a chart summarizing their sonic oppositions
and interactions.
Event 1
The first event is somewhat unique in its use of pure sine tones and noise in clear
contrast–the later events will begin to break down this opposition. The soft pitches of
these initial events, which resembled Region G, are cut off by a noisy sound, similarly soft
and contiguously sounding, but clearly much more diffuse. There are, in this noise, a few
prominent partials (those at 746 and 1649 Hz) visible in the spectrograph, but for a short
sound with such closely spaced partials, and in such immediate contrast to the previous
sine tones, this event moves abruptly from pitch to noise.
Event 2
The events which follow begin a series of curious transformations from compact to
diffuse. Event 2 enters at 2'01" with two short noises, followed immediately by a low
pitch based glissando. This event returns to the mid-high-low contour familiar from
earlier–its rhythmic contour, short-short-long, and the presence of a final glissing element
are particularly reminiscent of the first two events of Region D. Simultaneously this event
has more immediate resonances in as it reverses the compact/diffuse profile of Event 1
moving from noise back to pitch; while Event 1's pitches trailed upwards, Event 2 trails
downwards providing registral contrast as well. The final oblique element of Event 2 does
mediate some of the difference between noise and pitch; it has clear partials at
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