June 12, 2006

György Ligeti, 1923 - 2006.

György Ligeti: Atmosphères
György Ligeti, a major composer whose music became familiar to millions through the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, died today in Vienna, his publisher announced on its web site. He was 83.

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In 1961, he found international recognition for Atmosphères, a large-scale work consisting of slowly evolving, massive chords, or "sound masses." He called the technique micropolyphony.

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Parts of Atmosphères, Requiem, and Lux aeterna appeared on the soundtrack for 2001, a 1967 film by Stanley Kubrick that became a cultural icon. In fact, according to various sources, Kubrick used Ligeti's music without permission.

Ben Mattison in PlaybillArts, via Alex Ross.

See also: Sony Classical's biography, the BBC's profile and the Wikipedia entry.



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Posted by dwhudson at June 12, 2006 9:15 AM

Comments

Damnable news. Ligeti will go down as one of the significant figures of 20th century classical music.

Posted by: James Russell at June 12, 2006 10:55 PM

When I first pointed to Alex Ross's entry, it was just a note. It's since expanded into quite an appreciation, so if you haven't clicked his name in the past couple of days, I recommend it.

Posted by: David Hudson at June 16, 2006 12:28 AM