György Ligeti

by Richard Toop

Book Overview

The Hungarian Gy rgy Ligeti (1923-2006) was at the head of the avant garde from the early 1960s, and remained at the forefront of musical change and innovation. The use of his music in Stanley Kubrick's films 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining has ensured that his music has reached a wider audience. Richard Toop appraises all the principal compositions of Ligeti as well as his work as a teacher and mentor, and traces the composer's...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0714837954
• ISBN13: 9780714837956
• Release Date: October 1999
• Publisher: Phaidon Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.2" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

I agree with other reviewers

This book is a good read and done in a very professional way. You won't regret at all.

An eye-opening view of a great composer's life

Richard Toop's GYORGY LIGETI provides a long-awaited biography of the composer in English, balancing well descriptions of his life and his works. I found that Toop's book did not disappoint, and even deepened my appreciation of some of the composer's oeuvre, which I guess is what one hopes for from a musical biography. The book covers from the composer's birth to 1998. His early years are covered in some depth, and the difficult and horrowing years of World War II and the Nazi persecution explain the composer's distrust of systems and ideologies. Toop does not, however, give much information on what Ligeti was up to before his flight from Hungary. Ligeti has mentioned that he was composing music of fascinating light and dark, but Toop doesn't cover this. The immediately following period, Ligeti's days in Germany with Stockhausen working on electronic music, is covered in great detail. Toop describes not only what Ligeti was up to, but gives a vibrant picture of the rivalries and disputes between avant-garde composers in the 1950's. The portion about Ligeti's "second period", his compositions since the Horn Trio of the early 1980's, does seem a bit rushed. I would have preferred a much deeper analysis of the Piano Etudes, which are increasingly seeming his masterpiece. I am grateful to Toop because his book helped me understand how Ligeti's works of the 1970's, such as "Clocks and Clouds", fit into the larger perspective of his oeuvre, highlighting their relation to the minimalist composers and to Ligeti's time at Stanford. The book also changed my impression entirely about the player piano arrangements. I had previously thought these inconsequential gimmicks, but Toop describes how Ligeti considers some of these to be the definitive version, able to be played at speeds which human players cannot acheive. Since Ligeti has not composed much since the book was published, with the importance exception of the Horn Concerto, this biography does not seem very behind-the-times. It is worth getting even now. I would certainly recommend Toop's book to any fan of this greatest of contemporary composers.

Ligeti Lite

Gyorg Ligeti is perhaps the most interesting, and chameleonlike member of the European avant-garde. Not bounded by ideology, Ligeti's music has morphed through nationalism, colorism, avant-garde 60s dadism, minimalism and post modernism without ever loosing it's essential identity. Ligeti is a composer who knows who to control his style, not let his style control him. And his life is as compelling reading as any composer in recent history. Toop based his book on extensive interviews with Ligeti himself. As Toop admitted, the composer was fairly open about his early years and the chapters on life under first National Socialism and then Communism are harrowing...really compelling reading. WWII is widely believed to have had a fairly strong effect on the post war serialists, but none more than Ligeti, both as a jew and then as an avant-garde composer in communist Hungary. This horrific early life can be heard reflected in the composer's works particularly in the Requiem...and in his distrust of ideology, whether political of musical. The Toop book is a good introduction to the life of Ligeti the man and a decent descriptive survey of his music, but to me it falls behind on two points...one is not the fault of the author but the other I believe is. The author states in his introduction that Ligeti essentially clammed up in interviews about the composer's later life. Toop didn't pry, so the vivid portrait that we get of Ligeti's early years...up till about the 60s, drys up later in the book. Except for a few tantalizing hints of a personal life, you see nothing of Ligeti the person. This would bother me less if it weren't for the other larger flaw. The author is quite descriptive in his writings about Ligeti's music, but not really meaty. The musical portions of the book read like program notes, not real analysis. In fact, there is not a single musical example in the book. I don't think this is a problem for the general reader. If you just want to know more about Ligeti and a quick introduction to his complete works, this book is fine, in fact, it is probably perfect. But for the serious student who wants to understand Ligeti's style, this is a bit of a disappointment. All in all, this is a good book as a layman's introduction to the composer. It is better than all current competition. But there is a new Ligeti book in the works which looks more scholarly. I will eager await that one as a supplement to this.

"the least messianic of the post-war avant-garde..."

"...he distrusts all systems and ideologies." So says Toop of Ligeti, and at this point it seems that Ligeti is likely to be seen retrospectively as the greatest composer of the so-called "Darmstadt Circle" that included Boulez, Stockhausen, Xenakis, Nono and others. This is an excellent book on Ligeti's music -- don't expect much on his personal life, and you won't be disappointed, although there is some on his days in Hungary and early days in Germany following the October 1956 revolution, and Ligeti's flight with girlfriend and baby boy from Budapest to Vienna. The graphic design is excellent, and the thick art-quality pages facilitate loads of great photos. Ligeti's participation in the revolutionary fervor of the avant-garde of the late 40s and early 50s, his breakthrough to micropolyphony of the late 50s and 60s ("Apparitions," "Atmospheres," "Lux Aeterna," "Aventures," and other compositions, several made famous by their use on the film "2001"), and his later turn to a postmodern incorporation of classical elements as well as non-Western musics, are all covered thoroughly by Toop. Ligeti is one of the most creative composers of the late 20th century, and one of the wittiest. Like Beckett, his work is somehow simultaneously bleak and hilarious. Toop has written a great introduction.

gripping

For a good while this book is very difficult to put down. It sags a bit toward the middle, then picks up again. Sounds as if I'm describing a novel, I know, but much of this book does seem like one. On the other hand, I appreciate the author's deep professional knowledge of music and his telling descriptions of Ligeti's music. Ligeti lovers will also want to read GYORGY LIGETI IN CONVERSATION.