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Ligeti's Melodien, Lontano, in New York, California

Aug. 29, 2012

Ligeti's <em>Melodien</em>, <em>Lontano</em>, in New York, California

Two seminal orchestral works of the 20th century by György Ligeti make appearances on concert programs in the US this month. The Slee Sinfonietta presents Melodien on September 24 at the Lippes Concert Hall in Buffalo, NY, led by Robert Trevino. On the west coast, the University of the Pacific presents Ligeti’s haunting and colossal Lontano on their September 29 concert in Stockton, CA with Nicolas Waldvogel conducting. 

Ligeti has characterized Lontano as depicting the “opening and closing of a window on long submerged dream worlds of childhood.” The composer ingeniously uses tone clusters, otherworldly polyphony and varied timbres and textures that seamlessly emerge and dissolve throughout the ensemble to create a stunning effect. The work has earned the reputation as one of Ligeti’s greatest and a pillar of standard repertoire of the last century. Gene Tyranny writes:

Dream images appear, briefly coalesce and then dissipate. At the start, long tones are slowly compared with other tones setting up beat frequencies spreading across the surface of the orchestra into a cluster; this process is started again with a unison beginning with a tremolo on strings and spreading across the surface. Then a very low bass note is sustained with very high harmonic sounds, leading into a quiet, tonal, romantic harmony of mystery, with chords and clusters coming to the foreground and then disappearing back into the rich, silken texture. Ligeti likens parts of the work to Bruckner's Eighth Symphony.

Lontano has proved a powerful musical component to many film scores throughout its history including Stanly Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) and Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island (2010).

Learn more about György Ligeti at www.schott-music.com.

György Ligeti
Lontano (1967)
for large orchestra
4(2, 3.pic, 4.afl).4(4.ca).cl in A.3(2.bcl., 3.cbcl).3.cbsn-4.3(3 Tp. in D ad lib.).2·btbn.1-str
11’

György Ligeti
Melodien (1971)
for orchestra
1(pic).1(ob. d'am.).1.1-2.1.1.1-timp.perc(Crot. · Glsp. · Xyl. · Vibr.)-pno(cel.)-str
13’

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