listening to vaughan william’s sinfonia antarctica recently led me in turn to listen to music written by gyorgi ligeti - perhaps best known for his piece “lux aeterna” which famously appeared on the soundtrack for 2001: a space odyssey.
the soundtrack for 2001 was originally comprised of a work commissioned from alex north but stanley kubrick decided instead to go with his classical selection which included works as diverse as “the blue danube waltz” , “also sprach zarathustra” and two works by gyorgi ligeti . . . “atmospheres” and “lux aeterna”.
ligeti is widely acknowledged as one of the great musical pioneers of the late twentieth century. ligeti forged his own musical direction, based on texture and sound density. the resultant music is challenging, difficult and wavers precariously on the razor thin line between dissonance and consonance. a key feature of ligeti’s style is his use of extraordinarily dense polyphony, which he calls “micropolyphony”. micropolyphony consists of complexes of musical color and texture so rich and intense that they virtually dissolve the distinctions of melody, harmony and rhythm. for listeners used to music that clearly delineates role, purpose, and relationship, this represents a massive leap out of expectation.
lux aeterna . . . beautiful, but not for the faint of heart:
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