8/3/2019 Piano Concert Etudes_John Cage And http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/piano-concert-etudesjohn-cage-and 1/126 UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date: I, , hereby submit this original work as part of the requirements for the degree of: in It is entitled: Student Signature: This work and its defense approved by: Committee Chair: 8/18/2010 1,039 18-Aug-2010 Eun Young Kang Doctor of Musical Arts Piano Late Twentieth-Century Piano Concert Etudes: A Style Study bruce mcclung, PhD bruce mcclun PhD Eun Youn Kan
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3.2c William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 4, “Scène d’opéra,” mm. 14– 17...................................................................................................................................... 37
3.3a William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 11, “Hi-jinks” first system…....... 38
3.3b William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 5, “Butterflies, Hummingbirds,”mm. 9–10.………………………………………………………………………………. 38
3.4a William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 10, “Vers le silence,” finalcadence…….………………………………………….…………………………...…… 39
3.4b Willam Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 10, “Vers le silence,” first and eighth
systems…………….………...………………………………………………………….. 39
3.5a William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 1, “Fast, Furious,” fourth
system…………………………………………………………………………………... 40
3.5b William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 8, “Rag Infernal,” mm. 115–
3.6 William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 5, “Butterflies, Hummingbirds,”
mm. 12–14………………………………………………………………………………. 41
3.7a William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 1, “Fast, Furious,” eighth system,clusters notated in a harmonic interval with a bracket………………………...………...42
3.7b William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 8, “Rag Infernal,” mm. 119–21,clusters of black key and white key chords………….……………………………......... 42
3.7c William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 11, “Hi-jinks,” ninth system,
clusters notated with all notes……...….…………………………………….………….. 42
3.8a William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 2, “Récitatif,” ending…….…...... 43
3.8b William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 7, “Premonitions,” ending….….. 43
3.9 William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 3, “Mirrors,” mm. 8–12……...… 44
3.10 William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 2, “Récitatif,” m. 4………...….... 44
3.11 William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 6, “Nocturne,” mm. 1–4………...45
3.12 William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 7, “Premonitions,” mm. 7–8.…...45
3.13 William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 8, “Rag Infernal,” mm. 6–10....... 46
3.14 William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 12, “Hymne à l’amour,” mm. 2– 3………………………………………………………………………………………… 46
3.15 William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 1, “Fast, Furious,” eighth
system……………………………………………………………...…………………… 47
4.1a Béla Bartók, Mikrokosmos, Vol. 6, No. 144, “Minor Seconds, Major Sevenths,” mm. 1–3
and 33–39.……………………………………………………..……...………………… 53
4.1b John Corigliano, Etude Fantasy, Etude No. 3, “Fifths to Thirds,” mm. 83–85, opening of
No. 3..………………………………………………….…………….………………….. 54
4.2 John Corigliano, Etude Fantasy, six motives: Motive A, m. 1, first system; Motive B,
m. 1, second system; Motive C, m. 1, third system; Motive D, mm. 2–5; Motive E,
mm. 23–26; Motive F, Etude No. 3, “Fifths to Thirds,” mm. 83–85………….......…… 55
4.3a John Corigliano, Etude Fantasy, Etude No. 1, “For the Left Hand Alone,” last system of m. 58, augmentation of Motive D.………………………….……...………...…………. 58
4.3b John Corigliano, Etude Fantasy, Etude No. 1, “For the Left Hand Alone,” m. 1, sixth and
seventh systems and mm. 40–41, augmentation and diminution of Motive C….…...….58
4.3c John Corigliano, Etude Fantasy, Etude No. 1, “For the Left Hand Alone,” mm. 18–21,
transposition of Motive E.…………..………………..……………………………….... 59
4.3d John Corigliano, Etude Fantasy, Etude No. 1, “For the Left Hand Alone,” m. 22, last
system of p. 4, transformation of Motive C.………………..……………………...……59
4.3e John Corigliano, Etude Fantasy, No. 1, “For the Left Hand Alone,” sixth system of m. 22
and mm. 55–57, diminution of opening motive..……….……...…………......………... 59
4.3f John Corigliano, Etude Fantasy, No. 1, “For the Left Hand Alone,” mm. 38–39,
transposition of Motive E………..…………..…………………………………………. 60
4.3g John Corigliano, Etude Fantasy, Etude No.1, “For the Left Hand Alone,” third system of
m. 58, combination of Motives B and D……………..…………………………..…….. 60
4.4a John Corigliano, Etude Fantasy, Etude No. 2, “Legato,” mm. 59–60, combination of
Motives B and D…..……………………………………………………………………. 61
4.4b John Corigliano, Etude Fantasy, Etude No. 2, “Legato,” mm. 67–68, fragmentation of
4.16b Béla Bartók, Three Etudes, Op. 18, No. 3, mm. 13–15, constant change of meters in shortsections…………………...…………………….……………………………………..... 75
4.17a John Corigliano, Etude Fantasy, Etude No. 3, “Fifths and Thirds,” mm. 86–88……….75
4.17b Béla Bartók, Three Etudes, Op. 18, No. 3, mm. 36–38.………………………………...
75
5.1 György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 6, “Automne à Varsovie,” mm. 1–
4………………………………………………………………………………………… 82
5.2 György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 1, “Désordre,” mm. 1–21….…. 84
5.3 György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 2, “Cordes à vide,” mm. 1–4…. 87
5.4 György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 2, “Cordes à vide,” mm. 21–
24……………………………………………………………………………………….. 87
5.5a György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 2 “Cordes à vide,” m. 27,
overlapping phrases between two hands….…....…...…………………………..……… 88
5.5b György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 2, “Cordes à vide,” m. 27, anextreme range of the piano and use of the una corda pedal.……………………..…….. 88
5.6a György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 3, “Touches bloquées,” mm. 1–
4……………………………………………………………………………………..….. 89
5.6b György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 3, “Touches bloquées,” performance notes...………………………….…………...…………………...………... 89
5.7 György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 4, “Fanfares,” mm. 1–4………. 90
5.8 György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 4, “Fanfares,” mm. 169–72…... 91
5.9 György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 5, “Arc-en-ciel,” mm. 1–2.….... 92
5.10 György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 5, “Arc-en-ciel,” mm. 11–12.…92
5.11 György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 6, “Automne à Varsovie,”mm. 27–28 and 45–46..…….……………………….…….………………….…….……93
5.12 György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 6, “Automne à Varsovie” mm. 1–
set. Some composers arranged etudes in a specific manner. For example, Clementi’s Gradus ad
Parnassum is designed so that the pieces gradually increase in difficulty (hence the steps to
Parnassus), a feature that is termed “progressive difficulty.” Bartók employs this same design in
his six-volume set, Mikrokosmos, Sz. 107, which includes a total of 144 individual studies.
Others utilized tonal planning. Chopin arranged the first six his Op. 10 in pairs of major key and
its relative minor, which then for the next etude ascend a third (C, a, E, c-sharp, G-flat, e-flat);
the next six begin and end with C (C major then c minor), and are mostly related by thirds or
fifths (C, F, f, A-flat, E-flat, C). Liszt also arranged his twelve Transcendental Etudes in a
systematic tonal plan of strict major and relative minor relationship moving through the
descending circle of fifths (C, a, F, d, B-flat, g, E-flat, c, A-flat, f, D-flat, b-flat). Alkan
composed etudes in all twelve major keys (Op. 35) and in all twelve minor keys (Op. 39). This
traditional feature of the piano etude has been continued by many twentieth-century composers. Another tradition in etude composition is the inclusion of descriptive or programmatic
titles, largely associated with nineteenth-century romanticism. Liszt included descriptive
subtitles for many of his etudes. For instance, his Transcendental Etudes, S. 139 (1851) include
titles such as “Preludio,” “Paysage” (Landscape), “Mazeppa,” “Feux follets,” “Vision,” “Eroica,”
“Wilde Jagd” (Wild Chase), “Ricordance” (Remembrance), “Harmonies du soir” (Evening
Harmonies), and “Chasse-neige” (Snow Plough); his Three Concert Etudes, S. 144 (1848) are
named “Il lament,” “La leggierezza,” and “Un sospiro”; and his Two Concert Etudes, S. 145
(1862–63), “Waldesrauschen” (Forest Murmurs), and “Gnomenreigen” (Dance of the Gnomes).
His use of programmatic titles became a tradition of this genre followed by later composers such
as Moscheles, Alkan, MacDowell, Rachmaninov, Debussy, Bartók, Bolcom, Corigliano,
One of the most significant characteristics of the etude genre is that individual etudes
often are devoted to a particular technical problem. Chopin’s Opp. 10 and 25 show this approach
clearly: Op. 10, No. 1, broken-chord passages tenths and larger; No. 2, chromatic scales in the
right hand; No. 3, voicing as well as musical balance between a cantabile melody and an Alberti-
bass accompaniment with large leaps; No. 6, a study of rapid sixteenth-note triplets on black
keys in the right hand; No. 7, alternation of double thirds and double sixths for the right hand; No.
11, widely extended arpeggiated chords for both hands; then in Op. 25, No. 1, even touch and
clear melodies with melodic skips; No. 3, rapid trill-like figuration requiring a light touch; No. 8,
a study of sixths; and No. 10 a study of octaves. Many later composers, including MacDowell,
Debussy, Bartók, and Starer, followed this procedure. In contrast, Liszt generally included a
variety of technical problems in one etude, which is a style that others have followed. Perhaps Liszt’s approach is due to the fact that his forms are more expansive than some
other composers and often approach fantasies or variations. Liszt’s sixth etude of the Grandes
Études de Paganini, S. 141(1851) is a variation set. Thematic transformation is also incorporated
into his etudes, placing dramatic writing on a par with the technical study. Other nineteenth-
century composers, including R. Schumann in his Symphonic Études, Op. 13 (1834), and Brahms,
in his two sets of Variations on a Theme by Paganini, which are subtitled Studies for Piano, Op.
35 (1862–63). This mix of genres became one of many approaches to the etude genre.
Finally, throughout the history of the concert etude, composers have used this genre as
one of the chief vehicles of virtuosic writing. Since Liszt, this characteristic has been one of most
prominent; that the didactic purpose––i.e., focusing on a technical problem within an etude––is
less of training device than one to demonstrate the abilities of an accomplished pianist. All of the
technical aspects of piano playing are treated, including articulation, dynamics, arpeggios, scales,
Ligeti’s Automne à Varsovie,” which provides an analysis of the rhythmic complexity in the first
etude of Ligeti’s set.10
In the subsequent chapters, one devoted to a different composer’s set of etudes, I consider
the following questions: what is the modern compositional style with which each composer
composes his etudes? (Although these composers’, as is often the case may compose pieces in a
variety of styles, etudes generally fit into the style for which they are most known). What
differences are evident between the composer’s etudes and his non-etude works? Does the
composer’s etude engage with the traditional characteristics of the etude inherited from the
nineteenth century, especially that of virtuosity? Using the categories of traditional features of
the concert of the etude genre found in this chapter, I compare the stylistic elements of each
composer’s etudes with the normative characteristics of the genre demonstrating that to varying
degrees, all of these composers engage with the historical tradition of the etude.
10 Lois Svard, “Illusion in Selected Keyboard Works of György Ligeti” (DMA thesis, Peabody
Conservatory of Music, 1990); Mayron K. Tsong, “Analysis or Inspiration? A Study of György Ligeti’s Automne àVarsovie” (DMA thesis, Rice University, 2002).
seems, though, that as long as there was thought put into the problem of dynamics in this piece,
Cage was satisfied. Drury relates some questions Cage posed:
They are all separate sounds, so how do you decide that this note is going to be forte and this chord is going to be pianissimo? How many different gradations?
How many different kinds of touch can you use? … You have no informationother than each sound should be its own sound. That is very, very difficult to
confront and dif ficult to talk about.… It takes great dedication to come up with
those answers.17
Cage’s instruction to the performer concerning dynamics was similar to these for pitch: that each
sound should be its own. Articulation is an important part of this––long notes should be
noticeable longer than short ones––but mainly in relation to clear, effective, and cleanly
delineated dynamics. Regardless of which issue being considered, rhythm, dynamics, or
articulation, all require a considerable amount of planning not just to practice the notes, but to
make decisions, and even calculations, as to how this piece will be realized.
Certainly, technical difficulty alone does not make an etude, but when compared to other
piano works by Cage composed in this manner, Etudes Australes stand out for their virtuosic
display. His other keyboard works that employ indeterminacy do not approach the level of
complexity found in these etudes. For examples, in his 31'57.9864" for a Pianist (1954) and
34'46.776" for a Pianist (1954) both for prepared piano, require preparation, but Cage specifies
the objects to be used. However, the actual choice of the position of the objects is left to the
performer. Dynamics and articulation are again indicated by proportional graphic notation (see
Example 2.7).
17 Suzie Lee, phone interview with Stephen Drury, quoted in Lee, 31.
William Bolcom (b. 1938) composed his Twelve New Etudes for Piano between 1977 and
1986. Of the work’s intended performer, Bolcom wrote the following in his dedication:
These 12 New Etudes were written for Paul Jacobs; my hope of hearing him playthem was thwarted by his death. I extend my dedication to include, in gratitude,John Musto, who premiered three of these Etudes in February 1986 in New York,and Marc-André Hamelin, who premiered the first nine that July in California.They inspired me to complete the set, which I had left unfinished after Etude 9. 1
It was Hamelin, who premiered most of the entire set on July 1986 at the Cabrillo Festival inCalifornia and first recorded them for New World Records. Bolcom received the Pulitzer Prize in
Music for these etudes in 1988.
Bolcom has explored many traditional genres in the concert tradition as well as in
vernacular traditions in his large output. He has composed eight symphonies; a concerto each for
piano, violin, clarinet, and flute; as well as numerous chamber works, art songs, choral pieces,
and music for band. In the vernacular idiom, he has also composed cabaret songs and rags.
Among the composers of this study, he is the most prolific when it comes to the piano and organ.
For piano his works include Piano Concerto (1976), Dead Moth Tango (1983–84), Cadenzas for
Beethoven Concerto No. 4, Op. 58 (1986), Dedicace: A Small Measure of Affection (1992),
Sonata for Two Pianos in One Movement (1993), 9 Bagatelles (1996), and a large collection of
rags including the Garden of Eden (1968) and 3 Ghost Rags (1970). His organ music includes
Chorale and Prelude (1970), Four Preludes on Jewish Melodies (2005), Gospel Preludes (1979–
84), Hydraulis (1971), and Mysteries (1976). This list demonstrates a tremendous amount of
1 William Bolcom, 12 New Etudes for Piano (Milwaukee: Edward B. Marks Music Company, 1988).
diversity as well as a penchant on Bolcom’s part for composing in traditional genres and for
traditional forces.
In terms of style, Bolcom is one of many late twentieth-century composers whose music
can best be described as eclectic (some use the term postmodern), often characterized by willful
disparities and disruptive stylistic features. Throughout his career he has been committed to the
removal of divisions between classical and popular musical styles, especially those of American
vernacular traditions. While he composes many pieces within a Western concert tradition, he
also writes pieces securely within vernacular styles. Many of his concert pieces display a
merging of the two musical languages.
2
For instance, he blended elements of ragtime, applyingits syncopated rhythms, duple and quadruple meters, and a harmonic progression from the tonic
to subdominant, with progressive styles, including electronic music, in Black Host (1967), for
organ, percussion, and tape.3 His Fifth Symphony (1989) exhibits an Expressionistic style of
angular melodies with dissonant harmonies, but also a collage-like method of quotations of
popular tunes and art music such as Wagner’s Tristan prelude and Mahler’s horn fanfares.4 In
the cabaret opera Dynamite Tonite (1963), he contrasted atonality with the song styles of World
War I.5 Also, Bolcom mixes a blues-style piano accompaniment with an atonal obbligato part in
the first movement of his Second Violin Sonata (1978).6
2 Brian Morton and Pamela Collins, eds., Contemporary Composers (Chicago: St. James Press, 1992), 107.
His piano music follows suit. As Ji Sun
Lee noted, “His piano works Dream Shadows (1979), Graceful Ghost (1970), The Poltergeist
3 Ibid.
4 Steven Johnson, “Bolcom, William (Elden),” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nded., ed. Stanley Sadie (New York: Grove’s Dictionaries, 2001), 3:818.
(1979), Raggin’ Rudi (1972), Rag Tango (1988), Seabiscuits Rag (1970), and Three Dances
Portriats (1986) are rags blended with postmodern elements such as late serialism, odd collage
effects, chance and improvisatory procedures.”7
The Twelve New Etudes for Piano are similarly composed with this interaction between
vernacular and classical styles. Many stylistic characteristics from ragtime and jazz, such as
rhythmic and harmonic elements including the typical stride accompaniment, alternating bass
notes with off-beat chords, and use of ninth chords with appoggiaturas occur alongside
traditional nineteenth- and twentieth-century piano techniques, such as large leaps in a fast tempo,
extremes of dynamics, intricate pedaling, clusters, lateral tremolos, forearm glissandos, andobjects involving direct contact with the strings (inside piano technique), among many others.
Bolcom also mixed tonality and atonality in these etudes. While the Twelve New Etudes for
Piano are much more tonal than his earlier set, Twelve Etudes (1964), still included are whole-
tone scales with trills (No. 10, “Vers le silence”), serial techniques (No. 9, “Invention”), and a
twelve tone row (No. 11, “Hi-jinks”).
8
Several commentators have noted that these etudes would help a pianist in learning to
perform contemporary piano literature.
His compositional style combining vernacular and
cultivated techniques in these etudes results in a tremendous range of virtuosity.
9 Hamelin describes them as “exercises of style:
explorations of texture and various aspects of piano sonority such as register, pedal effects, and
harmonic colors.”10
7 Ji Sun Lee, “Revolutionary Etudes: The Expansion of Piano Technique Exploited in the Twelve New
Etudes of William Bolcom” (DMA thesis, The University of Arizona, 2001), 44–45.
This reflects one of the major aspects of the genre of etude throughout its
8 Ibid., 60.
9 Dan K. McAlexander, “Works for Piano by William Bolcom: A Study in the Development of MusicalPostmodernism” (DMA thesis, University of Cincinnati, 1994), 31.
infernal (Syncopes apocalyptiques),” No. 10, “Vers le silence,” and No. 12, “Hymne à l’amour.”
Although Bolcom names Chopin as a major influence, his use of French in many of these titlesas well as stylistic issues, seem to suggest the influence of Debussy.
Certainly, much of the physical demands found in the Twelve New Etudes for Piano
come from a relatively normal procedure in writing etudes that intentionally focuses on the
difficult, but in these pieces, the integration of the cultivated and the vernacular participates in
the virtuosity. The following discussion will consider many of the virtuosic features of these
etudes highlighting first the divide between the cultivated and the vernacular and then the fusion
of the two.
In terms of the virtuosity of the cultivated style, Bolcom drew from long history of piano
techniques. For instance, a challenge in the etudes of Chopin and Liszt are the large leaps in a
fast tempo. Bolcom explores this technical problem in Etudes No. 3, 8, and 10. In Etude No. 3,
the leaps often span more than two octaves (see Example 3.1a).
This tremolo can be physically awkward; a pianist will need to search for a comfortable
direction of the wrist to control the pp dynamic and to avoid becoming too loud.
Tone clusters were Henry Cowell’s contribution to ultra modern music, and Bolcom
includes them in Etudes No. 1 (see Example 3.7a), 8 (see Example 3.7b), and 11 (see Example
3.7c).
Example 3.7a, William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 1, “Fast, Furious,”eighth system, clusters notated in a harmonic interval with a bracket.
Example 3.7b, William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 8, “Rag Infernal,”mm. 119–21, clusters of black key and white key chords.
Example 3.7c, William Bolcom, Twelve New Etudes for Piano, No. 11, “Hi-jinks,” ninthsystem, clusters notated with all notes.
Example 4.3a, John Corigliano, Etude Fantasy, Etude No. 1, “For the Left Hand Alone,”
last system of m. 58, augmentation of Motive D.
Example 4.3b, John Corigliano, Etude Fantasy, Etude No. 1, “For the Left Hand Alone,”m. 1, sixth, and seventh systems and mm. 40–41, augmentation and diminution of Motive C.
Corigliano’s pianistic writing is indebted to Liszt’s innovations, as well as later composers such
as Scriabin, Bartók, and Stravinsky.
Corigliano’s polystylism, mixing of various styles and compositional techniques, is
obvious in most of his piano works. Kaleidoscope for two pianos (1959), an early work,
combines diatonic intervals, dissonances, highly lyrical content, and ragtime-like syncopation.
Corigliano described this piece as following:
Kaleidoscope for two pianos was written during my student years as anundergraduate at Columbia College (1955–59)…. As the title implies, is a
colorful mosaic of changing symmetrical patterns, some infused with a ragtime
feel, others highly lyrical in content. The work is in ternary form with an extended
lyrical center that treats a folk-like melody to a variety of contrapuntalelabor ations. In general, Kaleidoscope is high-spirited and full of the energy of
youth.7
His Gazebo Dances for piano, four hands (1972) contains four dance works in small forms.
Corigliano summarized it as follows:
It begins with a Rossini-like Overture, followed by a rather peg-legged Waltz, a long-
lined Adagio and boundy Trantella.8
Gazebo Dances presents eighteenth-century dance rhythms, but also comes close to twentieth-
century neoclassical piano suites such as Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin (1917).9
Corigliano’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1977) presents a more eclectic style. It is
basically a tonal work, but includes sections of atonality, strict twelve-tone writing, highly
irregular rhythms, cyclic structure using thematic transformation, meter changes, tone clusters,
contrasts between romantic lyrical melodies and aggressive or percussive sonorities, and brilliant
passages of fast arpeggios, trills, and octaves. This work comes closest to the Etude Fantasy in
7 Composer John Corigliano (accessed 20 May 2010); available from
Although the Hungarian composer György Ligeti (1923–2006) is largely known as one of
the leading progressive composers after World War II, a time, due to political dictates of the
communist government, he was cut off from contemporary musical trends of the West. After the
Hungarian Revolution in 1956, Ligeti left Budapest and moved to Cologne, where he worked in
the Studio for Electronic Music. It was here that he was exposed to radically different music,
meeting and coming under the influence of avant-garde composers like Karlheinz Stockhausenand Gottfried Michael Koenig. This experience helped Ligeti to develop his particular style,
which would feature machine-like rhythms and superimposed layering. Establishing himself in
the 1960s as a major figure of new music, Ligeti also taught composition, including from 1973 to
1989, when he was on the faculty of Hamburg Hochschule für Musik und Theater. He composed
many pieces in a large variety of genres: an opera; numerous orchestral works ( Apparitions,
Lontano, San Francisco Polyphony); concertos for solo piano, violin, and ʼcello, as well as
double concerto for flute and oboe, and the Hamburg Concerto for horn and four obbligato
natural horns; vocal/ choral works including a Requiem; chamber works; piano music; and works
for organ and harpsichord. Some of Ligeti’s works became known to a more general public as a
result of Stanley Kubrick’s interest in his music. For his film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968),
Kubrick used selections from Apparitions (1958–59), Lux Aeterna for sixteen solo voices (1966),
the Kyrie from the Requiem (1963–65), and a vocal work Adventures (1962). Ligeti’s Musica
ricercata can he heard in Kubrick’s last film, Eyes Wide Shut (1999).
Throughout his career, Ligeti explored various compositional styles. In the 1950s, when
he first gained recognition as a leader of the European avant-garde movement, it was with an
approach to the twelve-tone system that involved his own brand of complex rhythmic layering.
His piano work Musica recerata (1951–53) is representative of this style. At this time he also
experimented with electronic music and composed several electronic pieces including Glissandi
(1957) and Artikulation (1958). Although the electronic works are few among his total output,
his experiments in this medium carried over to his compositions for acoustic instruments. In fact,
in later pieces, Ligeti often tried to make instruments or other devices sound as mechanical as
possible calling this music meccanico.
1
I first began to think about a kind of static music you find in Atmosphères and Apparitions in 1950; music wholly enclosed within itself, free of tunes, in which
In his harpsichord piece Continuum (1968) constantlyrepeated eighth notes in each hand in an extremely fast tempo ( prestissimo) are played without
accents or bar lines. And, because of the two manuals of the instrument, Ligeti is able to place
them in the same register causing the music to sound mechanical. The individual tones and
figurations can hardly be recognized by the listener. In another piece, Poème Symphonique for
100 metronomes (1962), he employed actual machines and set them at different rates of ticking
to achieve a mass of layered rhythmical sound. His most important style coming out of the late
1950s and ʼ60s also involves this idea of layering. This style is known commonly as
micropolyphony and is essentially a texture of layered and superimposed, often chromatic, parts,
which together create a dense polyphony resulting in mass clusters. His well-known orchestral
works, Apparitions (1958–59) and Atmosphères (1961), are the best examples of
micropolyphony. About these two pieces Ligeti stated:
1 György Ligeti, “Ligeti-Josef Hausler,” trans. Sarah E. Soulsby, in György Ligeti in Conversation (London: Eulenberg, 1983), 108.
there are separate parts but they are not discernable, music that would changethrough gradual transformation almost as if it changed its colour from the inside.2
In Apparitions and Atmosphères (1961), forty-nine string parts, eighty-nine instrumental parts,
respectively, are written out, but the resulting sound is not individual; rather, it is more of a mass
orchestral cluster sound as all notes are within a similar range and layered on top of each other to
sound at the same time. In Ligeti’s late compositional period, beginning after 1980, he returned
to a tonal language that included much more use of major and minor triads than in earlier
compositions, but the method of layering remained the unifying stylistic technique. Furthermore,
these works are imbued with a greater degree of complex rhythmic writing, both as structuralaspects of the individual ostinatos and between the layers.
Main works from his later output include both the Piano Concerto (1985–88) and the
Violin Concerto (1992), but in many ways the three volumes of etudes for piano (Book 1, 1985;
Book 2, 1988–94; and Book 3, 1995–2001) can also serve as representative works of this period.
Together they pursue systematic and pervasive experiments with rhythmical notation,
introducing a simple figure at the beginning of each etude and then developing it logically to a
more complex conclusion. Rhythmical asymmetry between both hands and within one hand at
the same time create many challenges for a performer.3
The Études pour piano, Premier Livre (1985), consisting of six etudes, are considered to
be one of most important sets of twentieth-century piano etudes, and there are many ways in
However, in these pieces––specifically
the first book, which is the focus of the present study––Ligeti, like the previous composers
examined, melds his personal style with the traditions of the etude genre.
which Ligeti engages in normal etude practices as well as the tradition of etudes from the past
two centuries. This chapter will examine how Ligeti combined his idiomatic rhythmic
complexity with the typical characteristics of the etude genre. Like many composers before him,
including Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Bartók, Cage, and many others, these pieces
are collected into several sets. Although, like Rachmaninoff, Ligeti does not seem as interested
in the number twelve, as he does in composing three distinct sets, the first containing six pieces,
the second, eight, and the last, four.
The etudes in book one also include titles. While some composers, like Liszt, Alkan,
MacDowell, and Dusapin, chose programmatic associations, others, including Debussy, Bartok,and Starer, indicated in the title the technical difficulty of each piece. Ligeti uses his titles for a
variety of different purposes. For instance, etudes two and three, “Cordes à vide” and “Touches
bloquées” respectively, describe the primary focus of these etudes, in a manner more similar to
Debussy or Bartók. The first and fourth etudes, “Désordre” and “Fanfares,” are psuedo-
programmatic, relating these pieces to traditional musical concepts, while Études No. 5, “Arc-en-
ciel,” and No. 6, “Automne à Varsovie,” have specific descriptive titles similar to what Liszt
used in his Transcendental Etudes, S. 139 (1851); Three Concert Etudes, S. 144 (1848); and Two
Concert Etudes, S. 145. This blend of titles demonstrates that by the late twentieth century titles
are common to etude sets––indeed, Bolcom’s and Corigliano’s sets both have them––but that
they do not have to be one type or another.
A further aspect of these etudes that lends them a traditional authority is that each etude
concerns a specific performance techniques. Étude No. 1, “Désordre,” is an exercise in bitonality,
rhythmic independence, and a high complexity of rhythm, including polymeter. Étude No. 2,
“Cordes à vide,” focuses on arpeggiations of intervals of perfect fifths, where the progression of
duration moves from simple eighth-note motion through triplet motion to a faster sixteenth-note
pattern. Étude No. 3, “Touches bloquées,” develops a new twentieth-century piano technique,
blocked keys, in which one hand is depressing notes on the keyboard silently while the other is
sounding notes to create overtones. Étude No. 4, “Fanfares,” is built on fanfare-like melodies
based on open fifths and fourths with a continuous eighth-note ostinato, which also involves
complicated polymeters in a fast tempo. Étude No. 5, “Arc-en-ciel,” requires the pianist to work
through frequent major-seventh chords, varying tempos, dual meters between two hands, rubato,
hemiolas, as well as lyrical and delicate passages. As the title might indicate, the rhythmic
texture features many strings of sixteenth notes and a descending chromatic figuration. Finally,Étude No. 6, “Automne à Varsovie,” uses the “lament motif” and combines multiple melodic
parts in which each has a different tempo (see Example 5.1).4
Example 5.1, György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 6, “Automne àVarsovie,” mm. 1–4.
4 The lament motif comes from seventeenth-century music, associated with descending chromatictetrachord and helps to emote sadness due to loss of love or life (e.g., “Dido’s Lament” from Henry Purcell’s Didoand Aeneas).
Ligeti’s etudes are difficult pieces and are nearly impossible to play because of their
complex rhythmic and textural structure. It is his idiomatic style taken to an extreme that gives
the work its virtuosic nature. A number of techniques contribute to this, including tonal
complexity, contrapuntal writing, and extended techniques like the blocked keys in Étude No. 3.
But the rhythmic complexity within the layered textures is most difficult for the pianist. Ligeti
draws from a variety of traditions to create structures that control the rhythmic writing, such as
expanding hemiola techniques of the nineteenh century and employing fourteenth-century-style
isorhythm. Of some of his rhythmic procedures, Ligeti writes:
Of course, there are no measures in the European sense of the word, but insteadone finds two rhythmic levels: an underlying layer consisting of fast, even pulsations which are however not counted as such but rather felt, and asuperimposed layer of occasionally symmetrical but more often asymmetrical patterns of varying length, through always whole multiples of the basic pulse….This prevailing metric ambiguity produces, in theory at least, a kind of hemiola,which however does not really exist in practice: there can be no real ambiguity asthere is no meter based on the bar-line, there are no accents and consequently nohierarchy of beats, only the smoothly flowing additive pulse.5
5 György Ligeti, program notes for Wergo 60134, 12, quoted in Alexandra Townsend, “The Problem of Form in György Ligeti’s Automne à Varsovie, From Études Pour Piano, Premier Livre” (DMA thesis, University of British Columbia, 1997), 22.
Ligeti employs canons in this work, as well as the additive pulse principle of African music. In
fact, Ligeti sees this music as a blend of nineteenth-century rhythmic principles and non-Western
influence:
One often arrives at something qualitatively new by unifying two already known but separate domains. In this case, I have combined two dependent musicalthought processes: the meter-dependent hemiola as used by Schumann andChopin and the additive pulsation principle of African music. 6
Because of the nature of these etudes, I will discuss the virtuosity of each in turn.
Étude No. 1
Rhythmic difficulty in the Étude No. 1, “Désordre,” comes from isorhythmic structures
and different melodic lengths in each hand with constant repetitions in a fast tempo. Isorhythm
from fourteenth-century motets consists generally of two basic ideas: units of repeated melody
called color ; and units of repeated rhythm called talea. In this piece Ligeti used two colors, one
for each hand. These pitches are accented and played in octaves (see Example 5.2).
Example 5.2, György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 1, “Désordre,”mm. 1–21.
6 Ligeti, Wergo 60134, 12, quoted in Svard, “Illusion in Selected Keyboard Works of György Ligeti,” 76.
repetitions of each color is also different: thirteen and a half times for the right hand and ten and
a half for the left. Ligeti employs the talea in a similar manner. In addition, Étude No. 1 contains
other pianistic challenges such as perpetual eighth notes in both hands in a fast tempo with forte
dynamic and shifting irregular accents in both hands. In Ligeti’s own words:
The pianist plays coordinated, even pulsations in both hands. Superimposed ontothese pulsations is a grid work of irregular accents which at times however progresses synchronously in both hands, thereby temporarily producing theimpression of order. This impression slowly disintegrates as the accents in onehand begin to lag behind those in the order. In so doing, the metric relationship isgradually blurred until we reach a point where we are unable to discern whichhand leads and which lags behind. A state of order is in due course restored as thetwo successions of accents shift closer and closer to one another, eventually
falling simultaneously in the two hands, at which point the cycle begins anew.
7
The bitonality in this work also causes many challenges. In this etude, the right hand plays
diatonic notes only on the white keys, while the left hand plays notes in the pentatonic mode on
the black keys. This simultaneous use of different tonalities as well as rhythmic complexities
creates a challenge for any pianist.
Étude No. 2
Étude No. 2, “Cordes à vide,” displays some of the same textural ideas as Étude No. 1,
including different accentuation between the two hands, but without isorhythm. The left hand
begins with an eighth-note pattern first with seven but grows into groups of eight and then ten
between measures one and eleven. The right-hand part consists of irregular eighth-note patterns
varying from four to seven eighth notes. All of the arpeggiated notes in each hand are perfect
fifths, although the shape or direction of arpeggiated notes in each hand is different (see Example
5.3).
7 Ligeti, Wergo 60134, 12, quoted in Townsend, 24.
Apart from these rhythmic concerns, the second etude also includes overlapping phrases between
two hands, an extreme range of the piano, and frequent use of the una corda pedal and other
subtle pedaling8
(see Examples 5.5a and 5.5b).
Example 5.5a, György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 2, “Cordes à vide,”m. 27, overlapping phrases between two hands.
Example 5.5b, György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 2, “Cordes à vide,”m. 27, an extreme range of the piano and use of the una corda pedal.
These elements create virtuosity and challenges in performance.
In addition to Études No. 1 and 6, the other difficult etude in terms of rhythmic
complexity is Étude No. 4, “Fanfares.” This etude centers around a seemingly relentless ostinato
figure, which is repeated 208 times.9
Ligeti articulated the ostinato of eight notes into a 3+2+3
pattern with accents on the first note of each grouping (see Example 5.7).
Example 5.7, György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 4, “Fanfares,”mm. 1–4.
Ligeti places this ostinato pattern in a fast and machine-like steady tempo with sudden and
extreme dynamic changes ranging from pppppppp to pp in the right hand and pppp to sub ff in
the left10
(see Example 5.8).
9 Yung-jen Chen, “Analysis and Performance Aspects of György Ligeti’s Études Pour Piano: Fanfares and Arc-en-ciel ” (DMA thesis, The Ohio State University, 2007), 39.
Example 5.9, György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 5, “Arc-en-ciel,”mm. 1–2.
The right-hand groupings of four sixteenth notes are then transformed to three, five, and sixgroupings of sixteenth notes in mm. 11 and 12 (see Example 5.10).
Example 5.10, György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre, No. 5, “Arc-en-ciel,”mm. 11–12.
If these complications were not enough, Ligeti marked many indications of varying tempo:
Varying tempo: The metronome mark represents an average, the semiquaver movementfluctuating freely around this average tempo, as in jazz.12
12 György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre (Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne, 1986), 37.
In addition the hemiola effect of this etude, the different accentuations in each hand create
rhythmic complexity. The left-hand bass part contains accents on the first and seventh sixteenth
notes in order to provide steady beat. In the right hand, however, accents occur on different notes
than in the left hand, usually on fifth and ninth sixteenth notes as well as the first and seventh.13
Étude No. 6
Étude No. 6, “Automne à Varsovie,” sums up many of Ligeti’s explorations of rhythmic
complexities from the other etudes. He superimposes textures by using extremely complex
polyrhythms and polymeters in a very fast tempo. For instance, in the four voices of this etude,the accents of melodic lines and different rhythmic groupings against the ostinato in the middle
voice create polyrhythms (see Example 5.11).
Example 5.11, György Ligeti, Études pour piano, Premier Livre , No. 6, “Automne àVarsovie,” mm. 27–28 and 45–46.
The piece is notated in 4/4 (although the bar-lines as such are not audible), withsixteen fast pulses per measure. There is however a place in the piece where theright hand accentuates every fifth pulse and the left every third. To the ear, thesechains of accents blend together to form a supersignal consisting of two melodies:a slower one formed by the groupings of five and a faster one produced by thegroupings of three. The ratio 5:3 is of course arithmetically simple, but perceptually very complex. We do not count the pulses but rather experince twoqulitatively different tempor levels. Neither does the pianist count while playing:he produces the accounts according to the notation, is aware of a pattern of muscle contractions in the fingers, all the while however hearing another pattern,namely that of the different tempi which could not possibly be producedconsciously. 15
In performance, the pianist will not be able to play Ligeti’s superimposed complex of rhythmic
layers if s/he tries to count the pulses. The pianist should instead concentrate on emphasizing the
accents of each voice according to the notation to produce accurate rhythms. Also, the performer
must make clear contrast of dynamics, the different textural concepts, and the tone colors among
each voice to bring out the overlapping layers.
Ligeti’s etudes exemplify his output for piano in that they share many characteristics of
style, but they go well beyond the other pieces in utilizing his style of complex rhythmic layering
of ostinatos and small motives for virtuosic purposes. One of his early works for piano, Musica
ricercata (1951–53), is a set of eleven short movements for piano. In this work, the composer
15 György Ligeti, “On My Etudes for Piano,” Sonus 9, No. 1 (Fall 1988): 4.
employed an interesting pitch structure based on the twelve-tone system. Each subsequent
movement has one more pitch class than the preceding until in the eleventh movement, all twelve
pitches are used. This piece also employs some rhythmic layering. For example, in the seventh
movement, the right hand carries a folk-like cantabile melody in ¾ meter while the left hand
repeats a seven-note ostinato without meter.16
In his Three Pieces for Two Pianos (1976), layered textures are much more prominent.
Ligeti told an interviewer about these works:
However, his early piano works like the Musica
ricercata do not come close to the rhythmic and textural virtuosity of the three volumes of etudes.
In these we do not hear the various levels but something else, something like thethree dimensional impossible perspectives in Maurice Escher’s pictures. In thesame way there are rhythms and rhythmic formulae which neither pianist plays, but which emerge from the combination of the two pianos. What you get there is acomplex acoustical illusionary rhythm, which I then extended to a type of pr oliferant melody also, and this I developed further, this is what is essential init.17
For example, in the first piece, “Monument,” Ligeti layers different dynamics, meters, pitch
classes, and durations with isorhthymic tendencies in each piano. The second piece,
“Selbstporträt mit Reich und Riley” (Self-Portrait with Reich and Riley), combined Steve
Reich’s phase shifting and Terry Riley’s patterns of repetition with Ligeti’s own techniques of
superimposed frameworks.18 This piece also uses blocked keys which would be important for his
third etude in the first set. The third piece, “Bewegung” (Movement), uses constant arpeggios
against canonic lines in longer note values.19
16 Svard, “Illusion in Selected Keyboard Works of György Ligeti,” 15.
17 Szigeti, István, “A Budapest Interview with György Ligeti,” The New Hungarian Quarterly 25, no. 94(Summer 1984), 210, quoted in ibid., 47–48.
18 Paul Griffiths, György Ligeti (London: Robson Books, 1983), 95, quoted in Svard, “Illusion in SelectedKeyboard Works of György Ligeti,” 57.
19 Svard, “Illusion in Selected Keyboard Works of György Ligeti,” 64.
Ligeti’s Piano Concerto (1985–88), composed around the same time as the first book of
Études pour piano, shares some similar features. The concerto consists of five movements,
which explore polyrhythms, the lament motif, simple diatonic harmonies, minimalist elements,
and extreme registers of the keyboard (in the outer movements).
Ligeti’s unique compositional style, rhythmic complexity including hemiola effects,
isorhythm, canons, additive pulsation from West African music, and different accentuation
between both hands, within the superimposed layered textures, contributed a new type of
virtuosity to the etude genre. Other twentieth-century techniques like bitonality and extended
techniques, such as the blocked keys, also add to the virtuosic nature of these works, but he alsomaintained many of the typical characteristics of etude genre, such as composing a collection of
pieces, using programmatic titles and technical descriptions, and exploring particular techniques
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Composer John Corigliano http://www.johncorigliano.com/index.php?p=item2&sub=cat