Name: György Ligeti
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György Ligeti

Vienna celebrates György Ligeti's music

The Wiener Konzerthaus dedicated an extensive concert series to its honorary member György Ligeti on the occasion of his 100th birthday in 2023.

In 1956, György Ligeti fled to Vienna after the end of the Hungarian National Uprising, and he remained closely connected to the city throughout his life. In the year of his 100th birthday, Vienna consequently also became a major stage for his works.

At the centre of the musical tribute to his life and work was the Vienna Konzerthaus, of which György Ligeti was an honorary member. In numerous concerts, the Vienna Philharmonic, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna and the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, among others, interpreted his most important orchestral works. The two string quartets were performed by Quatuor Ébène and Quatuor Diotima respectively; piano and organ works were performed by Kit Armstrong, Anton Gerzenberg and Iveta Apkalna. The Klangforum Wien, the Ensemble PHACE and the œsterreichische ensemble fuer neue musik also participated in the portrait series.

Vienna Konzerthaus

"A restless seeker with great independence and inventiveness"

In the summer of 2023, the Salzburg Festival demonstrated its close affinity with the music of György Ligeti through the concert series Time with Ligeti. Tabea Zimmermann and Pierre-Laurent Aimard, who played a key role in shaping the series, talked about their own relationship with the composer.

The multifaceted exhibition Ligeti Labyrinth, which was conceived by the Budapest Institute of Musicology and the Paul Sacher Foundation, was presented at the Basel Historical Museum until April 2024.

New publication

Composers with very different voices emerged from György Ligeti's composition class in Hamburg. For a joint book, many of them have compiled their memories of the teacher and of the musical issues that were negotiated in the class.

Birthday Music

On 28 May 2023, the 100th anniversary of György Ligeti's birth, the composer's music was heard in concert halls all over the world - in cities with which his life was closely linked, such as Budapest, Vienna, and Hamburg, as well as in faraway places like Tokyo and Mexico City.

Richly coloured, rhythmically concise, expressively significant

In addition to having recorded all of György Ligeti's works for choir a cappella, the SWR Vokalensemble is offering workshops on the composer's work as part of a major school project and is also touring his music in Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic, France and Italy in May and June.

A new work by György Ligeti?

In any case, an almost unheard new version of Macabre Collage was performed independently by the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the London Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI in February 2023.

Iridescent to unbridled: The Requiem

Hans Memling's Danzig altarpiece of the Last Judgement served György Ligeti as inspiration for the Dies irae from his Requiem, which became one of the most complex polyphonic works in music history. As a summary of his previous work and the nucleus of his new work, the Requiem plays a key role.