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Peter Eötvös Conducts LIGETIDYLL in Celebration of György Ligeti's 100th Birthday

May. 30, 2023

To mark the 100th anniversary of György Ligeti's birth, Peter Eötvös conducted the world premiere performance of his new work, LIGETIDYLL as part of an all-Ligeti program with the Concerto Budapest Symphony Orchestra on May 28.

Although Ligeti and Eötvös are both Hungarian, they didn’t initially meet until 1965 when Eötvös attended Ligeti’s seminars at the famous Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, Germany. This sparked a lifelong friendship which united the composers until Ligeti’s death in 2006.

Peter Eötvös composed LIGETIDYLL as both a memory of the composers' time together and as a farewell to his friend. This twelve-minute work begins with a reference to Ligeti's Poème Symphonique (1962) for 100 metronomes as the initial tempo of 100 slowly develops into numerous rhythmic and sound combinations. As the piece concludes, each of the sixteen musicians "says goodbye" to Ligeti (and the audience) with a small cadenza. Peter Eötvös notes:

"My friendship with György Ligeti has a decades-long history. This piece, composed in a personal tone for Ligeti’s 100th birthday, portrays our shared memories in a naive and emotional manner, following its genre, the ‘idyll’".

Most recently, Eötvös conducted a Ligeti program with the Ensemble Wien Modern in Heidelberg and Budapest. As Eötvös is well-established conductor of Ligeti’s works, he was particularly excited to both compose and direct the world premiere of LIGETIDYLL.

To learn more about Peter Eötvös, visit: schottmusic.com.


Peter Eötvos
LIGETIDYLL (2022)
for ensemble
1(pic).1.1(bcl).1-1.1.1.0-2perc-perc-str(1.1.1.1.1)
12'

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