THE ELECTRONIC WORKS OF GYÖRGY LIGETI AND THEIR ...

material was previously used, have the potential to be fulfilled in the same way as in the
first half, fulfilled in retrograde, or answered with contrasting material. This is particularly
complex, since many of the individual gestures remain unchanged when retrograded.
Moreover, Ligeti works anomalies into his stated plan, so that material from different
sections appears “out-of-place” furthering the potential recombination of materials.
I will divide the second half of the piece into two phases, the first where these
anomalies occur, and the second, which is more straightforward in form, but in which all
of the gestures now draw on multiple referents. The first stage (3'46.5"-5'32")
R R
corresponds to the retrograded F and E Sections (henceforth F and E ), along with the
2 2 2
second statements of A, B, and most of C (A , B , and C ). The second stage begins at
2 R
5'32" with the coincidence of D and its own retrograde, D and continues to the end of
the piece. Figure 2.12 is a spectrograph of the Second Half.
Stage 1
Ligeti’s prime-plus-retrograde form will necessarily establish conflicting section
boundaries; since the original sections are all of different lengths, there will be continually
overlapping sections and the criteria for determining divisions will not necessarily coincide
with all of the sectional boundaries of the initial half of the piece. Which sectional
boundary is stronger will depend on the exigencies of their presentation in this new
context, which in many cases includes the filtering out of many of the striking initial
gestures of the beginning. The stages of the second half are much more fluid divisions
than the sections of the first. Since the A section’s reprise is largely overwhelmed by the
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