THE ELECTRONIC WORKS OF GYÖRGY LIGETI AND THEIR ...

of “dry [i.e. unreverberated] impulses” (szaraz imp). Below this are two parallel lines,
much like staves in a score; one is labeled “dynamics” (Dinamika) crescendoing to the
maximum value of 0 dB, while another labeled “reverberation” (Hall) fades out about
halfway through (see Figure 4.6). This type of cross-fading was facilitated by the studio
equipment, as the reverberation unit would most likely have had two outputs, one dry and
the other reverberated, and a dial that would allow simple fading from one version to the
other, allowing for a smooth transition in timbre and the effect the sketch describes as
coming near (közel jön). 21
Figure 4.6. Reverberation Levels for Artikulation, Region A
In Region G of Artikulation, material fades from one channel into another, and
here the sketches are similar. The Roman numerals here represent the different channels
of the quadrophonic original, I being the front, II, the right, III the back, and IV the left;
thus the spectra of this example, from about 1'10" into the piece, move smoothly from
right to front and then from front to left, as shown in Figure 4.7.
21
Figures 4.6 and 4.7 are transcriptions of sketches held in the György Ligeti Collection of the Paul
Sacher Foundation, Basel, they are also reproduced in Wehinger, Artikulation, as Figures 13 and 16.
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