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The Study of Composers' Sketches, and an Overview of those by Ligeti

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 31; Issue: 2-3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/07494467.2012.717355

1477-2256

Richard Steinitz,

Diverse Musicological Studies

Abstract The first section of this article traces the growth of the relatively new discipline of sketch-based research since its emergence in the nineteenth century, and the rapid increase in the accessibility of original sources during recent years. The major part consists of an overview of György Ligeti's surviving sketches, which are assessed in some detail focusing on the composer's changing practice during the course of his career. Issues of classification and terminology are considered, and examples illustrate what the sketches and related materials can contribute to musicological understanding, and specifically reveal about the composer's creative processes. Keywords: Sketch Research and ArchivesLigeti's SketchesCompositional PracticeNotebooksPlansHorn Trio Notes Konrad (1992 Konrad, U. 1992. Mozarts Schaffensweise: Studien zu den Werkautographen, Skizzen und Entwürfen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. [Google Scholar]). The term was coined at the First International Symposium of Composer Institutes organised by the Orff-Zentrum Munich in 2000. Stravinsky (1969 Steinitz, R. 2003. György Ligeti: music of the imagination, London: Faber & Faber and Boston: Northeastern University Press. [Google Scholar]) Chechlińska (2005 Chechlińska, Z. 2005. Works by Chopin: Facsimile edition, Warsaw: Fryderyk Chopin Institute. [Google Scholar]). See also http://en.chopin.nifc.pl/institute/publications/facsimile. Sonntag (1989 Sonntag, S. 1989. Dancers on a plane: Cage-Cunningham-Johns, London: Anthony d'Offay. [Google Scholar]). Newcomers, as well as experienced researchers, can find useful information in A Handbook to Twentieth-Century Musical Sketches, edited by Patricia Hall and Friedemann Sallis (Hall & Sallis, 2004 Hall, P. and Sallis, F. 2004. A handbook to twentieth-century musical sketches, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar]), which, although primarily pedagogic, contains several interesting case studies. Nordwall (1971 Nordwall, O. 1971. György Ligeti: Eine Monographie, Mainz: Schott. [Google Scholar]). Ligeti & Nordwall (1976 Ligeti, G. and Nordwall, O. 1976. From sketches and unpublished scores 1938–56: From the collection of Ove Nordwall, Stockholm: Norstedts Tryckerei. [Google Scholar]). Outside Sweden copies are hard to locate, but they can be found in the British Library, the Bodleian Library Oxford, Cambridge University Library, and Northwestern University Library in the United States. Sallis (1996 Sallis, F. 1996. An introduction to the early works of György Ligeti, Cologne: Studio-Schewe. [Google Scholar]), p. 291. Lichtenfeld (2007 Lichtenfeld, M. 2007. Gesammelte Schriften, 2 Vols, Mainz: Schott. [Google Scholar]). György Ligeti Edition 1–7 (1996–1999), Sony SK 62305–12; and The Ligeti Project I–V (2002–2004), Teldec 8573-88261-2, 8573-88262-2, 8573-88263-2, 8573-83953-2 and 8573-87631-2. In The Songs of Ararat (1942 The Songs of Ararat, Nine Songs for Voice with Piano Accompaniment. 1942. 22–31. Budapest: Ararat [Google Scholar]). I am grateful to Friedemann Sallis for sending me a copy of the list held by the now defunct Association of Hungarian Musicians, previously transcribed on his behalf by János Breuer from the association's files. Ullen (2006 The Songs of Ararat, Nine Songs for Voice with Piano Accompaniment. 1942. 22–31. Budapest: Ararat [Google Scholar]). Op. cit., pp. 44–50 and 51. Bernard (2011 Bernard, J. W. 2011. "Rules and regulations. Lessons from Ligeti's compositional sketches". In György Ligeti. Of foreign lands and strange sounds, Edited by: Duchesneau, L. and Marx, W. 151–156. Woodbridge: Boydell. [Google Scholar]). Ibid., p. 155. Although not in the colour facsimiles of Atmosphères and the Requiem which illustrate Bernard's essay. Ibid., colour plates 3 and 4. Four examples are reproduced in tolerable colour in Floros (1996 Floros, C. 1996. György Ligeti, Vienna: Verlag Lafite. [Google Scholar]). See further examples in Floros, op. cit., pp. 200, 211 and 213–215. Email to the author, 24 February 2010. Duchesneau (1992 Duchesneau, L. 1992. Ligeti Letter 2, Mainz: Schott. [Google Scholar]). Dibelius (1984 Dibelius, U. 1984. Ligetis Horntrio. Melos, 46(1): 44–61. [Google Scholar], p. 57). Composed during the last year of Beethoven's life, over 200 sketch pages survive for the String Quartet op. 131, more than for either the Missa Solemnis or the Ninth Symphony. Duchesneau, L. & Marx, W. (2011, pp. 169–212). CD liner notes for The Ligeti Project II. (2001) Teldec 8573-88261-2. Steinitz (2003), p. 50. Ligeti's own archive arrived in Basel just as I was completing my text. Duchesneau, L. & Marx, W. (2011, p. 263). Beckles Willson (2007). Temeş (2012 Stravinsky, I. 1969. The rite of spring. Sketches, 1911–1913. Facsimile reproductions from the autographs, London: Boosey & Hawkes. [Google Scholar]). From notes for 'John Cage & Lejaren Hiller HPSCHD and Ben Johnston String Quartet No. 2'. (1970) Nonesuch LP: H-71224. Duchesneau, L. & Marx, W. (2011, pp. 169–212).