Gyrgy Ligeti's Cultural Identities - 9781472473646

Taylor & Francis

Since Gy\u00F6rgy Ligeti\u2019s death in 2006, there has been a growing acknowledgement of how central he was to the late twentieth-century cultural landscape. This collection is the first book devoted to exploring the composer\u2019s life and music within the context of his East European roots, revealing his dual identities as both Hungarian national and cosmopolitan modernist. Contributors explore the artistic and socio-cultural contexts of Ligeti\u2019s early works, including composition and music theory, the influence of East European folk music, notions of home and identity, his ambivalent attitude to his Hungarian past and his references to his homeland in his later music. Many of the valuable insights offered profit from new research undertaken at the Paul Sacher Foundation, Basel, while also drawing on the knowledge of long-time associates such as the composer\u2019s assistant, Louise Duchesneau. The contributions as a whole reveal Ligeti\u2019s thoroughly cosmopolitan milieu.