György Ligeti Edition 2: A Cappella Choral Works - London Sinfonietta Voices

Gyorgy Ligeti (Composer), Terry Edwards (Conductor) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Conductor: Terry Edwards
• Composer: Gyorgy Ligeti
• Audio CD (January 21, 1997)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000029OX
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,218 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

A vast audience received its first exposure to the music of György Ligeti through Stanley Kubrick's use of his haunting "Lux Aeterna" (despite the composer's lack of consent) in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. This collection--part of Sony's invaluable Ligeti edition--places "Lux aeterna" in the context of Ligeti's other a cappella choral works, which together provide an overview of the evolving phases of one of the 20th century's most intriguing composers. In his booklet notes to the disc, Ligeti recalls the influence of Bartók and Kodály on his early folkloric compositions, from arrangements of traditional material to free, polyrhythmically inflected inventions on Hungarian folk texts, a format that allowed him some degree of experimental freedom from the strictures of "socialist realism" before he fled the Hungarian Communist regime. The breakthrough "Lux aeterna" is a classic example of Ligeti's trademark technique of "micropolyphony," enveloping the listener in mesmerizingly dense textures of cloudlike harmonies. From Ligeti's late period comes a triptych of "Hölderlin Phantasies." Their 16-voice polyphony transcends the simplistic distinction between tonality and atonality to explore "new kinds of half diatonic, half chromatic harmonies." The resulting sound world of fragmentary, dislocated epiphanies mirrors the unfathomable richness of the great visionary poet to uncanny effect. Throughout, the acoustical balance and conviction of the London Sinfonietta Voices give vivid shape to Ligeti's genius. -Thomas May

Product Description

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: LIGETI,G.
Title: ACAPELLA CHORAL WORKS
Street Release Date: 01/28/1997
Domestic
Genre: CLASSICAL COMPOSERS

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lux Aeterna, December 22, 1999

By 

M. Friedman (New York Area) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: György Ligeti Edition 2: A Cappella Choral Works - London Sinfonietta Voices (Audio CD)

When music historians write about the second half of the 20th century, Ligeti will be well remembered. If there is a soundtrack to the postwar era, with the hands of the doomsday clock pointing to five minutes to midnight, it is Ligeti's Lux Aeterna.

I don't know if that was his intent, but that work, his requiem and atmospheres, are indelibly engraved in my mind [along with Penderecki's Threnody] as the aural summation of the cold fear, tension and looming threat of the apocalypse. It is music of it's time, but of all time as well.

I was quite surprised, however, by the lyricism of the folk-inspired music on this disc. The variety -- from microtonalities to haunting modernist re-evaluations of Kodaly -- is amazing. The performances are first rate.

This disc is the 20th century.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a handful of great Ligeti works., September 5, 2004

By 

Lord Chimp (Monkey World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: György Ligeti Edition 2: A Cappella Choral Works - London Sinfonietta Voices (Audio CD)

As a compilation, musically speaking, Edition 2 is probably my least favorite of the Sony Ligeti Edition collection. Many of the pieces come from traditional Hungarian sources, conceived while Ligeti was still in his early years. They are pretty, but also pretty straightforward and conventional, and other than their simple pleasantness and occasionally yummy dissonances, they aren't really mindblowing like the best Ligeti. They are often very beautiful though. However, Edition 2 DOES feature one of the most harrowing, apocalyptic compositions of 20th century Western music, _Lux aeterna_. The profound tension in the quiet web of micropolyphonic voices is just devastating. Also great are the other later pieces, _Drei Phantasien nach Friedrich Holderlin_, three wild polyphony pieces from German literature, and _Magyar Etudok_, three very complex Hungarian etudes for 16 voices. Those pieces are all outstanding but honestly I think everything I've heard by Ligeti is worth hearing. Check out Ligeti edition 4 for more vocal works, some of which are the best of Ligeti's works.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exquisite use of the voice, July 10, 2002

By 

Junglies (Morrisville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: György Ligeti Edition 2: A Cappella Choral Works - London Sinfonietta Voices (Audio CD)

Bringing Ligeti's works to a wider public was one of the great services Stanley Kubrick performed for the world when Lux aeterna was included in the soundtrack for 2001: a Space Odyssey.

This album is a collection of a cappella choral works and which highlights Ligeti's great talent and skill in the use of the voice as a musical instrument. He, together with Yoko Ono, have excelled in this field though from different, sometimes conflicting directions.

When I listen to this I revel in it's glory. The sounds are ethereal and atmospheric, ghostly and angelic in a way that no-one but the composer can make them sound. I never want those sounds to end and in a way it is like having a sort of dependence.

I could go on and on and on about this but I had better stop. This is one essentila component of anyone's classical music collection yet it really defies categorisation. This is timeless, awesome music, not just for a generation but for a world. Lest Zeus strike me with a thunderbolt, these voices are sweeter and more angelic than the voices of the angels themselves.

Exquiiste. Words are insufficient to describe such beauty.