Ligeti György Sándor

György Ligeti (1923–2006) was a Hungarian composer born in Transylvania, Romania, who later worked mainly in Austria. One of the leading European composers of the postwar era, he developed “micropolyphony,” a technique in which countless finely moving lines merge into a single complex field of sound. His vocal and orchestral works include Atmosphères, Lux Aeterna, and Requiem; his music also became widely known through its use in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey. In his piano music, the Études are a particularly important body of works, combining intricate rhythms with demanding physical motion. Other piano pieces, including the 3 Bagatelles for David Tudor, the 3 Pieces for Two Pianos, and 3 Pieces: Objects, reveal his sharp imagination and distinctive sense of sonority.