THE ELECTRONIC WORKS OF GYÖRGY LIGETI AND THEIR ...

One such point of interaction occurs as Region G dissolves into the uncoordinated
attacks of Event J-1. The sustained spectra of the early events of Region G transform into
dense, continuous, clouds of spectra, which in turn give way to the scattered, clipped
pitches of J-1. With this change, one of the major distinctions between the sustained or
moderately sustained events of Region G and clipped events of Region H is removed.
Thus the starting point of Region J is already significantly closer to that of Region H in
this dimension. A notable pause in Region H occurs at the onset of this new development,
calling attention to the soft, scattered, sine tones in the nascent Region J. Since these
attacks are more similar to Region H’s they could be lost–overpowered by the louder
events of the right channel–if Ligeti did not allow for this initial space. Furthermore, when
Region H reenters, we hear the similarity in the clipped, level elements and must
reinterpret the same material in a new context.
There is a similar point of interaction at the noisy ending of Event J-1, the point
where noise and pitch exchange in Region J is most abrupt. The dissevered glissando at
the end of H-3 follows immediately. This seemingly oblique point in Region H is made of
level impulses, which help moderate the forthcoming exchanges between pitch and noise,
and also help prepare the glissandi which persist in the other channel.
Event H4 also contains points of interaction with Region J. The anomalous low
pitched sound (H4a) plays off of event J2. It surrounds the first, diffuse, element of J2,
highlighting this sound as a noise when heard against the harmonic spectrum. There is
also a clear contrast in registers as H4a occupies the space between 80 and 240 Hz. and
J2's first element has its lowest partial at 353 Hz. These contrasts are then seemingly
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