Longing, Obsession, and Play: Ligeti’s Early Compositions for Women’s Choirs

Abstract

This paper investigates a selection of Ligeti’s early compositions for women’s choir, written between 1944 and 1956 in order to shed new light on the significance of this repertoire in stylistic evolution. It first retraces the main events during his years of study (mainly thanks to his writings and interviews) and draws attention to the traumatic experiences he endured in his youth. The study examines therefore the genesis of the choral pieces and the compositional technique Ligeti developed, highlighting the dense tangle of influences that characterizes his music and exploring the complex and multiple connections between the composer’s inner self and the compositional process.

Keywords

György Ligeti, choral music, women’s choir, style evolution, trauma, compositional process