INNER EMIGRATION IN LIGETI GYÖRGY’S MUSICA RICERCATA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbmusica.2026.spiss2.08Keywords:
Ligeti György, Musica ricercata, Inner emigrationAbstract
In 1951, behind the Iron Curtain, in a horrible dictatorship when almost everything was forbidden, Ligeti György began to compose Musica ricercata for himself, or as he called it, “for the desk”. This inner emigration was a sine qua non at this point to find his “voice” and his own compositional language. He began experimenting with simple, elementary sound and rhythmic structures, to build up something new from nothing. First with a single note, then with one single interval, two intervals, until he reached all twelve tones in his own particular way. Several small pieces were created in this manner, mainly for piano, later called Musica ricercata.
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