January 16, 2023, 11:03 p.m
While György Ligeti’s String Quartet No. 1 was still so strongly influenced by Béla Bartók that Ligeti’s somewhat younger Hungarian composer colleague György Kurtág once called it Bartók’s seventh string quartet, the tonal worlds of the String Quartet No. 2, written regarding fifteen years later, are significantly different. Between these two works are such important compositions as Atmosphères, which premiered at the Donaueschinger Musiktage in 1961, Aventures, which drifted into the absurd, or the choral work Lux Aeterna.
If one can describe the first string quartet for long stretches with conventional terms and categories such as melody, accompaniment and rhythm, the string quartet No. 2 is reminiscent of mass processes, swarm-like formations or mechanical mechanics.
Thomas Wally, who, in addition to his work as a freelance composer and violinist, is also a senior lecturer in music theory subjects at the Vienna University of Music, looks at György Ligeti’s second string quartet from an (auditory) analytical perspective: What do we hear when we hear this work? What can we pay attention to? What are peculiarities that we should pay attention to? Analytical tools are provided to the listener, with the help of which this music can be perceived with a sharpened focus.
Design: Thomas Wally, editing: Rainer Elstner
