THE ELECTRONIC WORKS OF GYÖRGY LIGETI AND THEIR ...

Koenig uses a similar approach to pitch in his electronic work, Essay–the piece
Ligeti helped realize as part of his apprenticeship learning how to use the equipment at the
WDR studio. In Essay, Koenig uses several different pitch scales; for example his Section
A uses intervals defined by a variable scale with steps ranging from between 81 and 82,
and in his Section B he uses a constant step-size of 2416. All of these decisions
(including the number of scales used per section) are serially determined. Both
Stockhausen’s and Koenig’s pieces are largely driven by the presentation of this pitch
material as an expression of the underlying series, and serial permutations determine the
ordering of this material as well as other aspects of this presentation.
One of these other serialized aspects governs the synchronization of the available
tones as well as the shaping of dynamic curves and levels of intensity. Within each of his
cluster-like sounds, Stockhausen synchronizes the individual strands differently, based on
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different schematic forms elsewhere referred to as “modus.” These were a way of
varying the actual presentation of these note-mixtures through different rhythmic
presentation; his modes included synchronizing the beginnings of tones, but having them
filter away at different points; synchronizing the ends, but having the beginnings staggered,
and so forth. Koenig also used schematic diagrams to order the presentation of his
frequency-fields. These included both “directionally undefined” (i.e. highly permuted so as
to sound random) and “directionally defined” (i.e. perceptible as ascending, descending,
converging, diverging, etc.).
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Richard Toop, “Stockhausen’s Electronic Works: Sketches and Work-Sheets from 1952-1967” Interface
10 (1981), 149-197.
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