Ligeti in Cologne

Abstract

György Ligeti’s stay in Cologne from 1957 until 1959 played a decisive role in his life. After more than three decades living under more or less strict political control, finally Ligeti could experience peace and personal freedom. Many talks with Karlheinz Stockhausen, who explained his particular musical ideas and serial composition techniques in detail, and the access to the Electronic Music Studio at the West German Broadcasting Station, where Gottfried Michael Koenig would introduce him to the specific ways of theoretical thinking and the practical methods in the field of electronic composition, opened for him the domain of the New Music. And Ligeti’s own realizations Glissandi and Artikulation marked an important turning point in his musical practice in general.

Keywords

• György Ligeti
• Glissandi
• Aventures
• Karlheinz Stockhausen
• Gesang der Jünglinge
• Gottfried Michael Koenig