Compositional Techniques Found in Three Orchestral Works of Gyorgy Ligeti

157 p.Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1988.The text focuses on three works composed between 1966 and 1974. These include Cello concerto, Double Concerto for Flute and Oboe and San Francisco Polyphony. The analyses presented give special emphasis to the compositional techniques shared by the three works. Despite important stylistic developments which appeared during this period of Ligeti's career, certain techniques and tendencies remain relatively unchanged, providing a sense of stylistic continuity to his music.The first two chapters of the text deal with general techniques of pitch manipulation and orchestration encountered in the three works. The discussion of pitch manipulation centers on independent linear structures and the various techniques from which clusters and cluster-like pitch structures are derived. These include such areas as micropolyphony, cluster motion, chromatic and diatonic harmonic structures, tonal tendencies, microtonality and trailing techniques. The second chapter deals primarily with Ligeti's structural use of orchestration and its direct relationship to the cluster-based pitch materials employed in his work.The final chapter of the work includes complete analyses of the three works. Special consideration is given to compositional techniques which the works hold in common, as well as the methods conceived by Ligeti for the large-scale organization of his works.Though Ligeti is well represented in Europe with regular interviews and analyses of his work, such has not been the case in the United States. The text is intended to help to improve the situation in the United States with regard to the notable shortage of theoretical analyses of the works of Ligeti.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD