THE ELECTRONIC WORKS OF GYÖRGY LIGETI AND THEIR ...

hythmic design of stasis as well as his use of the gestures and formal strategies developed
here continue throughout his oeuvre, and are essential to his characteristic style.
In this study of the origins of this style, we have seen Ligeti persistently strive for a
balance between the type of formalism associated with serial and his perceptually-oriented
instincts; this balance which lies at the essence of his experiences in the Cologne studio.
Many of the composers working at the WDR Studio saw the pairing of serial and
electronic music as the union of the most advanced compositional techniques of the day
with the most advanced technology, and strove to use the newfound control afforded by
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this technology to drive the serialization of all separate parameters. Ligeti’s approach is
radically different from this and in all the aspects of this study we have seen him use serial
techniques to investigate materials, but has left out strict ordering procedures in favor of
those which will support the perception of a global form. In rhythmic design Ligeti’s
alternative to using serial duration row first appears in Artikulation and then in
Apparitions, where each step of the process of construction is undertaken with the
resulting whole in mind. Ligeti’s concern is not with form as the unveiling of its
compositional process, or as the articulation of the underlying series, but as the listener’s
perception of the finalized piece. Within this rhythmic framework, the pitch-designs and
gestures Ligeti develops can also be seen as putting perceptual considerations over
existing formalisms. While many of these gestures relate to the “modus” idea of
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See for example, Herbert Eimert,“What is Electronic Music?” trans. Cornelius Cardew, in Electronic
Music, Vol. I of Die Reihe (Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania: T. Presser; London: Universal Edition, 1958,
German edition 1955).
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