GYÖRGY LIGETI (1923-2006) - MUSICA RICERCATA (an Analysis) , Sheet Music Library (PDF)

Table of Contents

GYÖRGY LIGETI : Musica ricercata & 6 Bagatelles for wind quintet (1951-55) –
The search for a language of his own in the shadow of Bartók.

György Ligeti comes from Transylvania, his birthplace has belonged to Romania since the post-war period, but he is Hungarian from a Jewish family. After the war, which he was lucky to survive (apart from his mother, his family died in a concentration camp), he began to study music
to Budapest.

In the short phase before Hungary was subjugated by Stalinism, there was a culturally open climate in which the young composer must have absorbed all the latest trends like a sponge. However, after that (from 1946), just like in the USSR, the culture was regulated and suppressed. Musically, a simple, real-socialist style was required. Even by the acknowledged greatest Hungarian composer, Béla Bartók, only a few pieces were performed, mostly folk music arrangements.

The young Ligeti outwardly followed these guidelines, but in reality he was looking for a new style in which harmony and the passage of time were largely eliminated. The pieces on this way could only be created for the drawer. For example the ‘Musica ricercata’ for piano. The title is a reference to the ricercar, the early baroque form of the fugue (e.g. in Girolamo Frescobaldi, to whom the 11th piece refers), but also aptly means “searching music” in German.

Hoping to have his music performed, Ligeti arranged 6 pieces from this 11-part cycle as the Bagatelles for wind quintet. But even then, the 6th Bagatelle was rejected on the grounds that there were too many small seconds – the judgments on new musical works were so superficial. Since the score was left behind when they fled to the West, Ligeti reconstructed the instrumentation for a Swedish wind quintet for the overall premiere in 1969.

In this version, the work became a classic hit of the 20th century: wind quintets are hungry for good pieces and – when have you ever seen such a catchy work by a notorious avant-gardist? It is often forgotten that there is an original work (the ’10 pieces for wind quintet’) from the 1960s (i.e. Ligeti’s demanding micropolyphonic period), but it is never the same could achieve popularity.

But despite the relatively traditional, Bartók-like tonal language, Musica ricercata/ Bagatelles shows many aspects that are consistently typical of Ligeti’s work.

Form progression: Ligeti prefers processual to developing forms (in contrast to Bartók). That means: Form (and harmony) appear without contrasts or even statically (see also point ‘Rules of the game’). Musical parameters flow in straight lines transitions into one another instead of developing into spin-offs or spin-offs. The simplest example: the first piece of the Musica ricercata on the one note A is in principle a process of speeding up, achieved through real accelerando and process-related shortening of the basic rhythmic motif up to the five-eighth-long figure from Prestissimo.

2. Rhythm: This technique already shows Ligeti’s preferred relationship to rhythm and meter: bar lines stand for coordination, but not in the sense of a metric emphasis. Even in the Musica ricercata there are numerous passages where rhythmic processes are composed across bars. The successive quintuplets, sextuplets, septuplets, etc. are then composed as an accelerando. In later works, this can also be found as a micropolyphonic obfuscation in different values at the same time.
3. Intervals: In many pieces, the melodic line prefers a small ambitus (most frequently the minor third), which is filled out in small intervals. On the other hand, there are eruptions at large intervals. These sudden gestures also become typical of later works, where there are repeated crashes and breakouts – either as expressive interruptions in the process or as end or turning points. In the piano version there are already spoken, programmatic playing instructions such as ‘ferocissimo (very wild)’, ‘minaccioso (threatening)’, ‘like in a panic’, ‘insisting, defiant’, ‘like crazy’. In the wind version, these are almost all reduced or transformed into relatively neutral Italian playing instructions (a sign of the sober avant-garde years?), but this does not soften the extreme expression.
4. Rules of the game: This term does not quite belong in this series, but perhaps best describes Ligeti’s approach to composing. In part, this attitude can already be found in Bartók (see my analysis of “Music for Stringed Instruments, Percussion and Celesta”): simple basic requirements create complex compositional connections. Let’s think of simple board games: a few rules and clear game goals (e.g. mill and checkers) always create different and complex game processes. This is also the case in the Musica ricercata: the basic rules of the game are kept extremely simple. The eleven pieces each have an increasing range of notes: from two notes in the first to all twelve in the last (although the idea of introducing the new note towards the end of the piece is already abandoned from the 3rd piece). However, the selection of the tones already reveals a more complex way of thinking: the same tones are not always used, but successive pieces use a range of tones that are as contrasting as possible, e.g. with fundamental tones that are far away (see overview).

The scales mostly obey point or scale symmetries (except in the more Mixolydian pieces 7+8 and the pieces with an almost complete chromatic scale). The compositional tasks that result from the small number of tones are demanding, sometimes even amusing: How do you create an interesting piece from just one (two), three or four tones? Or which consonances result from parallel shifts in non-symmetrical scales (6th bagatelle)?

Other techniques typical of the later Ligeti are the extensive use of ostinato formations (which, however, are later permuted, i.e. altered in sequence) and canon. His cluster pieces of the 1960s and the polyrhythmic works of the 1970s and 1980s are predominantly constructed in a canonical manner.

Otherwise, however, Ligeti very often still follows Bartók’s model here (above all, of course, in the 5th bagatelle, which is dedicated to the memory of the predecessor):

developments are taken to a limit, which then creates a new form section, there are traditional ones highlights. In addition to his personal style of scale formation, which is very similar to Bartók’s, he uses typical compositional techniques such as drone tones and transverse harmonies (Eastern European ‘Bluenotes’), imitative sections as well as Hungarian and Bulgarian ones Rhythms (reversed dotting and compound time signatures in fast tempo).

The 5th Bagatelle uses a typical Bartók model of the ‘Night Music’, which the older composer had established in works such as ‘Im Freien’, ‘Musik für Stringeninstrumente’ and ‘Divertimento für Stringorchester’. Minor motive formulas (the minor third in Hungarian rhythm) build up a development over a bell-like drone bass that aims for a plaintive climax. The harmony goes through several states of aggregation from unison to mild dissonance at T.10, screaming dissonance at T.18 to something mysterious
Cluster T.24.

The ending, with its turn from D minor to C sharp major, is a prime example of the extended tonality in the cycle of minor thirds that Ernö Lendvai began to demonstrate to Bartók and on which Hungarian theorist Albert Simon built a novel theory of extended romantic-modern harmonics: takes If you take the minor third axis C sharp-E-G-A sharp as the tonic level (with its major fifth tones G sharp-B-D-F), D minor fulfills the function of a dominant sphere, which allows the ending to be interpreted as a kind of authentic cadence.

Ligeti’s sheet music download here.

György Ligeti – Musica ricercata (mit Noten, sheet music)

ARVE Error: src mismatch

provider:    dailymotion
url:         https://dai.ly/k1NQ3sbdthS0iGxJZFp

src:         https://geo.dailymotion.com/player.html?video=x88ubhf&
src mod:     https://geo.dailymotion.com/player.html?video=x88ubhf
src gen:     https://geo.dailymotion.com/player.html?video=k1NQ3sbdthS0iGxJZFp

Track list:

I. Sostenuto- 0:00 II. Mesto, rigido e cerimoniale- 2:10 III. Allegro con spirito- 5:29 IV. Tempo di Valse- 6:37 V. Rubato, Lamentoso- 8:11 VI. Allegro molto capriccioso- 10:54 VII. Cantabile, molto legato- 11:39 VIII. Vivace, energico- 14:40 IX. Adagio, mesto, allegro maestoso- 15:41 X. Vivace, capriccioso- 17:38 XI. Andante misurato e tranquillo: Omaggio a Girolamo Frescobaldi- 18:54

Browse in the Library:

Total Records Found in the Library: 12472, showing 120 per page
Artist or Composer / Score name	Cover	List of Contents
Aerosmith – I Dont Want To Miss A Thing
Aerosmith 1973-1979 – Guitar Play Along with MP3 audio Guitar Signature Licks with Tablature		Aerosmith 1973-1979 Signature Licks
Aerosmith Greatest Hits (Guitar) with Tablature		aerosmith greatist hist guitar
Aerosmith Nine Lives Original Songbook Guitar Tabs
Aesthetics Of Music Musicological Perspectives by Stephen Downes(Book)
Affections touching across time (Inuyasha OST) Kaoru Wada
Afi – Love Like Winter
Afi – Miss Murder
AFI’s Top 25 Film Scores Songbook		AFI’s Top 25 Film Scores Songbook
Africa – Toto.mscz
Africa And The Blues (Book)
Afro Cuban Keyboard Grooves by Manny Patiño and Jorge Moreno		Afro Cuban Keyboard Grooves by Manny Patiño and Jorge Moreno
Afroman – Because I Got High
After Hours for PIANO DUET by Pam Wedgwood		After Hours for PIANO DUET by Pam Wedgwood
After Hours For Solo Piano. Book 3 (Pam Wedgwood)		After Hours For Solo Piano. Book 3 (Pam Wedgwood)
After Hours for Trumpet and Piano by Pam Wedgwood		After Hours for Trumpet and Piano by Pam Wedgwood
After You’ve Gone Turner Layton And Henry Creamer 1918 Jazz Standard (Vintage sheet music)
Again, as before, alone (P. I. Tchaikovsky)
Age of Empires 2 – Main theme	Age of Empires 2 – Main theme
Agnes Obel Chord Left
Agnes Obel Fuel To Fire
Agnes Obel Pass Them By
Agnes Obel – Riverside Piano
Agnes Obel – September Song
Agnes Obel – Tokka
Agnes Obel Falling Catching
Agnes Obel Falling, Catching
Agnes Obel Familiar
Agnes Obel Fuel To Fire
Agnes Obel It’s Happening Again
Agnes Obel Just So
Agnes Obel Mary
Agnes Obel Riverside
Agnes Obel September Song
Agnes Obel Smoke And Mirrors
Agnes Obel The Curse
Agnes Obel Tokka
Agnes Obel Words Are Dead
Aguas De Março Jazz Piano Score Jobim
Aha – Take On Me
Ahead On Our Way Ff Vii (Musescore File).mscz
Ahmad Jamal Poinciana Full score (Song of the Tree)	Ahmad Jamal Poinciana Full score (Song of the Tree)
Ahmad Jamal The Ahmad Jamal Collection (Artist Transcriptions)		Ahmad Jamal The Ahmad Jamal Collection Artist Piano Transcriptions contents Ahmad’s Blues, But Not For Me, The Canteen, For My Daughter, My Flower, New Rhumba, Night Mist Blues, Poinciana (Song Of The Tree), Sumayah, The Surrey With The Fringe On Top
Ahmad Jamal Wave from the album The Awakening
Ai Mei – Rainie Yang
Aimee Mann – Wise Up
Ain’t Misbehavin’ Fats Waller As Played By Joe Pass (Musescore File).mscz
Ainsi soit je (Mylène Farmer)
Air on the G string, from BWV 1068 (10 string, Yepes tuning).mscz
Air Supply Greatest Hits		AIR SUPPLY GREATEST
Airegin by Soony Rollins – Jazz Play Along with sheet music		Airegin
Akira Ifukube – Sonata for Violin and Piano I – Allegro
Akira Ifukube End Titles Godzilla Vs Destoroyah
Akira Ifukube Mesa March Godzilla
Akira Yamaoka Silent Hill 2 Promise (Reprise)
Akira Yamaoka, Silent Hill Room Of Angel (Piano)	Akira Yamaoka, Silent Hill Room Of Angel (Piano)
Aknin, Laurent Le Choix Du Coeur Easy Piano Solo (du film The Student and Mister Henri (L’Étudiante et Monsieur Henri)	Aknin-Laurent-Le-Choix-Du-Coeur-Easy-Piano-Solo
Al Di Meola – Guitar Technique SongBook with Tablature		Al Di Meola – Guitar technique SongBook
Al Di Meola A Guide To Guitar Chords Scales And Arpeggios Master Classes With Bob Aslanian		Al Di Meola A Guide To Guitar Chords Scales And Arpeggios Master Classes With Bob Aslanian
Al Di Meola Collection		al di meola collection songbook
Al Di Meola Enigma Of Desire (Guitar)
Al Di Meola Guitar School Elegant Gypsy Songbook with Tablature		Al Di Meola Guitar School Elegant Gypsy Songbook
Al Di Meola Guitar Tabs Songbook Electric Rendezvous		Al Di Meola Guitar Tabs Songbook Electric Rendezvous
Al Di Meola Solace (Guitar)	Al Di Meola Solace (Guitar)
Al Di Meola Solos (Guitar) with Tablature		al di meola solos
Al Di Meola Super Guitarist Guitar Tabs Songbook		Al Di Meola Super Guitarist Guitar Tabs Songbook
Al Di Meola When Youre Gone	Al Di Meola When Youre Gone
Al Green – Let´s Stay Together Melody And Guitar Chords
Al Green Let’s Stay Together
Al Jarreau – Breakin’ Away
Al Jarreau Spain (I can recall) Piano Vocal Guitar Chords
Al Jarreau The Best Of Al Jarreau Piano Vocal Guitar chords		Al Jarreau The Best Of Book
Al Stewart – Time Passages
Al Stewart – Year Of The Cat
Al Stewart Greatest Songs Of Book		AL STEWART SONGBOOK
Aladdin – A Whole New World – Alan Menken	Aladdin – A Whole New World – Alan Menken
Aladdin – Arabian Nights (Musescore File).mscz
Aladdin – Broadway Musical Songbook – Alan Menken		Aladdin – Broadway Musical Songbook – Alan Menken
Alain Barriere – Les Guinguettes
Alain Barrière – Emporte Moi (Y Volveré)
Alain Barriere – Tu T’en Vas
Alain Chamfort Songbook Book		ALAIN CHAMFORT SONGBOOK
Alain Souchon Au Ras Des Paquerettes Piano Vocal Guitar TAB		Alain Souchon Au Ras Des Paquerettes Piano Vocal Guitar TAB
Alain Souchon Ecoutez d’où Ma Peine Vient Piano Vocal Guitar chords		Alain Souchon Ecoutez d’où Ma Peine Vient Piano Vocal Guitar chords
Alain Souchon les plus grands succès de (partitions, sheet music) Piano Vocal		Alain Souchon les plus grands succès de (partitions, sheet music) Piano Vocal
Alan Belkin – Una Guía Práctica de Composición Musical (Spanish)	Book Theory
Alan Jackson – Between the Devil and Me
Alan Jackson – Buicks to the Moon
Alan Jackson – I’ll Go On Loving You
Alan Jackson – It’s Five Oclock Somewhere
Alan Jackson – Little Bitty
Alan Jackson – Once In A Lifetime Love
Alan Jackson – Remember When
Alan Jackson – That’d Be Alright
Alan Jackson – There Goes
Alan Jackson – Where I Come From
Alan Jackson Remember When Piano Solo
Alan Lomax – The Penguin Book Of American Folk Songs (GUITAR)		Alan Lomax – The Penguin Book Of American Folk Songs GUITAR)
Alan Menken – A Christmas Carol A Place Called Home
Alan Menken – Beauty and the Beast (easy piano) Complete score arr. piano & guitar chords		Alan Menken – Beauty and the Beast (easy piano)
Alan Menken – Little Shop Of Horrors		Alan Menken – Little Shop Of Horrors
Alan Menken – Songbook		Alan Menken songbook sheet music
Alan Menken – Tangled (Disney) Rapunzel songbook		Tangled
Alan Menken A Christmas Carol (The Musical)
Alan Menken Aladdin (songbook)		Alan Menken Aladdin
Alan Menken I see the light (Tangled-Disney)	Alan Menken I see the light (Tangled-Disney)
Alan Menken My Christmas Tree from Home Alone 2 Lost In New York
Alan Menken The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (Disney)		Alan Menken The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (Disney)
Alan Menken The Little Mermaid Piano Vocal Score (The Musical)	Alan Menken The Little Mermaid Piano Vocal Score (The Musical)
Alan Parsons – Eye in the Sky
Alan Parsons Project – Don’t Answer Me
Alan Parsons Project – Eye In The Sky
Alan Parsons Project – Time
Alan Parsons Project – Eve (Piano, Vocal, Guitar) Songbook		Alan Parsons Project – Eve (Piano, Vocal, Guitar) Songbook
Alan Parsons Project – Eye In the Sky (Piano, Vocal, Guitar Songbook)		Alan Parsons Project – Eye In the Sky (Piano, Vocal, Guitar Songbook)
Alan Parsons Project – I Robot (Piano, Vocal, Guitar) Songbook		Alan Parsons Project – I Robot (Piano, Vocal, Guitar) Songbook
Alan Parsons Project – The Essential		Alan Parsons Project
Alan Parsons Project Gaudí Piano Vocal Guitar chords		Alan Parsons Project Gaudí Piano Vocal Guitar chords
Alan Silvestri – Avengers Infinity War Medley – Piano Solo	Alan Silvestri – Avengers Infinity War Medley – Piano Solo
Alan Silvestri – Contact Main Theme