Atmosphères
Encyclopedia
Atmosphères is a piece for full orchestra, composed by György Ligeti
in 1961. It is noted for eschewing conventional melody and metre in favor of dense sound textures. It gained further exposure after being used in Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey
.
that suggest timbre
is the central focus of the piece. It exemplifies Ligeti's notion of "static, self-contained music without either development or traditional rhythmic configurations." Harold Kaufman has written that Ligeti's music collapses foreground
and background elements of musical structure into a "magma of evolving sound". Program notes provided by Ensemble Sospeso describe Atmosphères as the "first major alternative to European serialism
: static masses of orchestral sound that give the simultaneous sense of immobility and motion." On the other hand, a close investigation of Ligeti's relationship to the Darmstadt avant-garde concludes that Atmosphères should "be seen as part of an evolution within the serial tradition and a response to problems articulated within it, rather than as a break from that tradition altogether". The sound masses in Atmosphères are seen particularly to conform to the serial precepts of Karlheinz Stockhausen
’s "statistical form", as exemplified in Gesang der Jünglinge
(1955–56) and Gruppen (1955–57).
Larry Sitsky has written that in Ligeti's music "the density of the successive structures is such that the conventional parameters through which musical form (melody, rhythm, harmony) is traditionally perceived appear to have been evacuated. Consequently, these evolving sound structures seem stationary, as if detached from the passage of time. To paraphrase the composer himself, the micropolyphonic textures tend to hang like a mighty oriental tapestry, suspended outside time." Likewise, Thomas May states that in his breakthrough orchestral pieces Apparitions and Atmosphères Ligeti's "new musical point of view...looked beyond the traditional basic elements of melody, harmony, and rhythm, immobilizing these in favor of the mass and texture of sound itself. Gigantic clusters of chords hover in a stasis that negates familiar signposts of harmony and pulse. This dense sound-fog became known as the signature Ligeti style".
The piece heavily utilizes tone cluster
s of notes (meaning several consecutive notes on a scale are played) in which generally no two instruments ever play the same note. The popular music edition All music guide describes the piece as having clusters of notes from which sections fall out, leaving "masses of natural notes". The piece features "shimmering rapid vibrato
, multiple high glissandi, waves of string harmonics in different meters
, [and] notes moving along the same path but at different speeds". Ligeti coined the term "micropolyphony
" to describe his composition style of focusing on evolving textures of music.
s, held by strings
and soft woodwinds", out of which various groups of instruments drop out successively, followed by various "strands of sonic fabric" reenter the composition, first white notes then black notes along with shifts in timbre and duration of notes which drive the piece forward. Consequently,
Ligeti noted that Atmosphères had a polyphonic structure, but one organized by his own rules. The polyphonic structure, he stated, cannot be heard by the listener, but remains "underwater", hidden from the listener.
chose this piece and others by Ligeti for the scenes in deep space and those with the monolith in his 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey
because its quality of mystery was a good sonic realization of his vision. This resulted in the exposure of Ligeti's music to a much wider audience. The recording of Atmosphères used in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey was with the South West German Radio Orchestra conducted by Ernest Bour
. Kubrick would go on to employ other Ligeti compositions in his films The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut.
According to program notes published by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Ligeti was not pleased that his music occurred in a film soundtrack shared by composers Johann
and Richard Strauss
. Nevertheless, the piece has been performed in concert several times with other works featured in the film 2001:A Space Odyssey, such as a 2010 performance by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra which performed it along with the full-length version of Richard Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathustra
.
. The SWF recorded this performance for broadcast, and this recording has been released commercially on CD several times. Paul Griffiths writes that this performance made Ligeti a "talking point". Ligeti says that after this and his earlier piece "Apparitions", he "became famous". Leonard Bernstein
conducted the New York premiere in 1964, though the American premiere had occurred earlier at a San Fernando Valley State College concert organized by Cuban composer Aurelio de la Vega. Bernstein later conducted it with the New York Philharmonic
and recorded it with them at the Manhattan Center in New York on 6 January 1964 for Columbia Masterworks, reissued in 1968 on Colimbia Records, and in 1999 on a Sony Classical CD.
Edward Seckerson of UK's The Independent also described this segue as a "startling coup" while Richard Morrison of the daily edition of The Times noted that "Jurowski even kept a beat going, to fool us … so that Stravinsky’s bassoon emerged out of Ligeti’s wispy, endlessly drifting clouds of clusters."
Another recently acclaimed performance was that by Austria's Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra) performing in England, a performance described as "a focused reading" in which the conductor "Nott duly coerced a delicacy from each section of the orchestra—particularly the centrifugal strings—that gave a wonderful smoothness to the performance".
for clarinet, cello, accordion, guitar and lap top (sine tones) based on the Ligeti original. It has been performed by Plus-minus ensemble
, and posted by the ensemble as a video.
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...
in 1961. It is noted for eschewing conventional melody and metre in favor of dense sound textures. It gained further exposure after being used in Stanley Kubrick's film 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
.
Conception and style
Atmosphères eschews conventional melody, harmony, and rhythm, in favor of "sound masses" with sliding and merging orchestral clustersTone cluster
A tone cluster is a musical chord comprising at least three consecutive tones in a scale. Prototypical tone clusters are based on the chromatic scale, and are separated by semitones. For instance, three adjacent piano keys struck simultaneously produce a tone cluster...
that suggest timbre
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
is the central focus of the piece. It exemplifies Ligeti's notion of "static, self-contained music without either development or traditional rhythmic configurations." Harold Kaufman has written that Ligeti's music collapses foreground
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
and background elements of musical structure into a "magma of evolving sound". Program notes provided by Ensemble Sospeso describe Atmosphères as the "first major alternative to European serialism
Serialism
In music, serialism is a method or technique of composition that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though his contemporaries were also working to establish serialism as one example of...
: static masses of orchestral sound that give the simultaneous sense of immobility and motion." On the other hand, a close investigation of Ligeti's relationship to the Darmstadt avant-garde concludes that Atmosphères should "be seen as part of an evolution within the serial tradition and a response to problems articulated within it, rather than as a break from that tradition altogether". The sound masses in Atmosphères are seen particularly to conform to the serial precepts of Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
’s "statistical form", as exemplified in Gesang der Jünglinge
Gesang der Jünglinge
Gesang der Jünglinge is a noted electronic music work by Karlheinz Stockhausen. It was realized in 1955–56 at the Westdeutscher Rundfunk studio in Cologne and is Work Number 8 in the composer's catalog of works...
(1955–56) and Gruppen (1955–57).
Timelessness and micropolyphony
The piece evokes a sense of timelessness in which the listener is lost in a web of texture and tonality. Harald Kaufmann has described it as "acoustically standing still", a stationary sound which has movement within it that is similar to breathing. The classical music edition of All music guide says the music "scarcely hints at forward movement. Rather the listener hears an all but motionless series of sound evolutions unfolding at various moments". According to Peter Laki,
One of the central ideas in Atmosphères, the realization of complete stasis through extensive inner motion, germinated during Ligeti’s Hungarian years. The composer later noted that he had been preceded in the writing of “static” music by Wagner (Prelude to Das Rheingold and the Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin), Bartók (opening of The Wooden Prince), and Schoenberg (“Farben,” the third in Five Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 16). But neither Bartók nor Wagner or Schoenberg ever achieved stasis through its exact opposite, as Ligeti did in Atmosphères. Large portions of the piece consist of extremely dense counterpoint, with up to 56 voices (each string instrument has his or her own individual part to play). But the imitative entrances are so close to one another that it is impossible to perceive them separately, with apparent immobility as the result.
Larry Sitsky has written that in Ligeti's music "the density of the successive structures is such that the conventional parameters through which musical form (melody, rhythm, harmony) is traditionally perceived appear to have been evacuated. Consequently, these evolving sound structures seem stationary, as if detached from the passage of time. To paraphrase the composer himself, the micropolyphonic textures tend to hang like a mighty oriental tapestry, suspended outside time." Likewise, Thomas May states that in his breakthrough orchestral pieces Apparitions and Atmosphères Ligeti's "new musical point of view...looked beyond the traditional basic elements of melody, harmony, and rhythm, immobilizing these in favor of the mass and texture of sound itself. Gigantic clusters of chords hover in a stasis that negates familiar signposts of harmony and pulse. This dense sound-fog became known as the signature Ligeti style".
The piece heavily utilizes tone cluster
Tone cluster
A tone cluster is a musical chord comprising at least three consecutive tones in a scale. Prototypical tone clusters are based on the chromatic scale, and are separated by semitones. For instance, three adjacent piano keys struck simultaneously produce a tone cluster...
s of notes (meaning several consecutive notes on a scale are played) in which generally no two instruments ever play the same note. The popular music edition All music guide describes the piece as having clusters of notes from which sections fall out, leaving "masses of natural notes". The piece features "shimmering rapid vibrato
Vibrato
Vibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors: the amount of pitch variation and the speed with which the pitch is varied .-Vibrato and...
, multiple high glissandi, waves of string harmonics in different meters
Meter (music)
Meter or metre is a term that music has inherited from the rhythmic element of poetry where it means the number of lines in a verse, the number of syllables in each line and the arrangement of those syllables as long or short, accented or unaccented...
, [and] notes moving along the same path but at different speeds". Ligeti coined the term "micropolyphony
Micropolyphony
Micropolyphony is a type of 20th century musical texture involving the use of sustained dissonant chords that shift slowly over time. According to David Cope, "a simultaneity of different lines, rhythms, and timbres"...
" to describe his composition style of focusing on evolving textures of music.
Ligeti's musical theory
In an essay titled "Metamorphoses of Musical Form", Ligeti developed the concept of musical "permeability" according to which a musical structure is "permeable" if it allows a free choice of intervals and "impermeable" if not. Ligeti here considers Palestrina’s music as having "perhaps the lowest degree of permeability" because its handling of consonance and dissonance was the most sensitively defined of all historical styles. Ligeti saw permeability and impermeability of groups, structures, and textures in serial music as substitutes for the form-shaping function of melodic lines, motifs, and harmonies in older styles. Some textures could be layered and juxtaposed; some musical structures will mix with others seamlessly, while other structures will stand out. Atmospheres exemplifies much of Ligeti's theory suspending harmony in favor of sustained sounds. The piece opens with a "fully chromatic cluster covering more than five octaveOctave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
s, held by strings
Strings (music)
A string is the vibrating element that produces sound in string instruments, such as the guitar, harp, piano, and members of the violin family. Strings are lengths of a flexible material kept under tension so that they may vibrate freely, but controllably. Strings may be "plain"...
and soft woodwinds", out of which various groups of instruments drop out successively, followed by various "strands of sonic fabric" reenter the composition, first white notes then black notes along with shifts in timbre and duration of notes which drive the piece forward. Consequently,
The whole piece is a study in what Ligeti's essay had called the "permeability" of musical structures, how some will mix with a great many others, some stand always apart; it is also a demonstration of what can be achieved when all the usual regulators, being so finely tuned at the time by other composers, are left open.
Ligeti noted that Atmosphères had a polyphonic structure, but one organized by his own rules. The polyphonic structure, he stated, cannot be heard by the listener, but remains "underwater", hidden from the listener.
Fame through use in film
Stanley KubrickStanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
chose this piece and others by Ligeti for the scenes in deep space and those with the monolith in his 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey
2001: A Space Odyssey (film)
2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
because its quality of mystery was a good sonic realization of his vision. This resulted in the exposure of Ligeti's music to a much wider audience. The recording of Atmosphères used in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey was with the South West German Radio Orchestra conducted by Ernest Bour
Ernest Bour
Ernest Bour was a French conductor. Born in Thionville, Moselle, Bour studied at both the University and the Conservatoire of Strasbourg...
. Kubrick would go on to employ other Ligeti compositions in his films The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut.
According to program notes published by the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Ligeti was not pleased that his music occurred in a film soundtrack shared by composers Johann
Johann Strauss II
Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas...
and Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
. Nevertheless, the piece has been performed in concert several times with other works featured in the film 2001:A Space Odyssey, such as a 2010 performance by the Nashville Symphony Orchestra which performed it along with the full-length version of Richard Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathustra
Also sprach Zarathustra (Richard Strauss)
Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 is a tone poem by Richard Strauss, composed in 1896 and inspired by Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophical treatise of the same name. The composer conducted its first performance on 27 November 1896 in Frankfurt...
.
History
Atmosphères was commissioned in 1961 by the Southwest German Radio and had its world premiere on 22 October 1961 by Hans Rosbaud conducting the SWF Symphony Orchestra at the Donaueschingen FestivalDonaueschingen Festival
The Donaueschingen Festival is a festival for new music that takes place every October in the small town of Donaueschingen...
. The SWF recorded this performance for broadcast, and this recording has been released commercially on CD several times. Paul Griffiths writes that this performance made Ligeti a "talking point". Ligeti says that after this and his earlier piece "Apparitions", he "became famous". Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
conducted the New York premiere in 1964, though the American premiere had occurred earlier at a San Fernando Valley State College concert organized by Cuban composer Aurelio de la Vega. Bernstein later conducted it with the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
and recorded it with them at the Manhattan Center in New York on 6 January 1964 for Columbia Masterworks, reissued in 1968 on Colimbia Records, and in 1999 on a Sony Classical CD.
Notable recent performances
A 2006 performance of Atmosphères by the London Philharmonic was noted for its direct transition without interruption into Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, which Sunday Times music critic Hugh Canning described as a "stroke of programming genius"Jurowski preceded Stravinsky's Rite with Ligeti's static cloudscape, Atmosphères. Instead of presenting these seminal modernistModernism (music)Modernism in music is characterized by a desire for or belief in progress and science, surrealism, anti-romanticism, political advocacy, general intellectualism, and/or a breaking with the past or common practice.- Defining musical modernism :...
works as separate items, Jurowski segued seamlessly from the nothingness of the Ligeti's close into the opening bassoon solo of the Stravinsky. The contrast between these two pieces—the Ligeti a study in motionlessness, the Stravinsky a convulsive eruption of movement—was only enhanced by Jurowski's device, making one listen with refreshed ears.
Edward Seckerson of UK's The Independent also described this segue as a "startling coup" while Richard Morrison of the daily edition of The Times noted that "Jurowski even kept a beat going, to fool us … so that Stravinsky’s bassoon emerged out of Ligeti’s wispy, endlessly drifting clouds of clusters."
Another recently acclaimed performance was that by Austria's Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra) performing in England, a performance described as "a focused reading" in which the conductor "Nott duly coerced a delicacy from each section of the orchestra—particularly the centrifugal strings—that gave a wonderful smoothness to the performance".
Reworking
Belgium born classical guitarist Tom Pauwels wrote a reduced arrangement of Atmosphères for a small chamber orchestra of eight instruments, using a graphic scoreGraphic notation
Graphic notation is the representation of music through the use of visual symbols outside the realm of traditional music notation. Graphic notation evolved in the 1950s, and it is often used in combination with traditional music notation...
for clarinet, cello, accordion, guitar and lap top (sine tones) based on the Ligeti original. It has been performed by Plus-minus ensemble
Plus-minus ensemble
Plus Minus is a music group that formed in 2003 specializing in contemporary classical music.There are eight members in the ensemble:* Mark Knoop -- conductor/piano/accordion* Vicky Wright --clarinet* Roderick Chadwick -- piano...
, and posted by the ensemble as a video.
Discography
In chronological order of recording, many of which have been released in different couplings.- SWF-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden, conducted by Hans Rosbaud [recording of the world premiere in DonaueschingenDonaueschingenDonaueschingen is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar Kreis. It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Danube ....
on 22 October 1961]- 1990. 40 Jahre Donaueschinger Musiktage 1950–1990. Col Legno AU-031800 CD. 4-CD set + 1 booklet. Munich: Col Legno Musikproduction; Staufen im Breisgau: Aurophon. (With music by Hartmann, Boulez, Nono, Xenakis, Penderecki, Stockhausen, Stravinsky, Zimmermann, Holliger, Lachenmann, Raseghi, Messiaen, Carter, Rihm, and Kalitzke.)
- 1996. 75 Jahre Donaueschinger Musiktage 1921-1996: CD 9. Col Legno WWE 12CD 31899 (12-CD set); Col Legno WWE 1CD 31908 (single CD number). Munich: Col Legno Musikproduction; Staufen im Breisgau: Aurophon.
- 2000. Musiktage Donaueschingen: Uraufführungen 1955–1989. Musik in Deutschland 1950–2000; Konzertmusik; Musik für Orchester; Sinfonische Musik; Porträt. RCA Red Seal/BMG Ariola 74321 73510 2. 1 CD, 12 cm. + booklet. [Munich]: BMG Ariola Classics. (With music by Xenakis, Penderecki, Messiaen, Holliger, Lachenmann, and Rihm.)
- New York Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein [recorded in New York City at the Manhattan Center 6 January 1964]
- 1965. Leonard Bernstein Conducts Music of Our Time. Columbia Masterworks MS 6733 (stereo). LP recording, 1 sound disc, 33 1/3 rpm, 12 in. New York: Columbia Records. (With music by Morton Feldman, Larry Austin, and four improvisations by the New York Philharmonic. Program notes by Edward Downes on the jacket.)
- 1968. Music from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Suite from Aniara. Columbia masterworks MS 7176 (stereo). LP recording, 1 sound disc, 33 1/3 rpm, 12 in. New York: Columbia Records.
- 1999. Music of Our Time. Sony Classical SMK 61845. 1-CD. New York: Sony Classical. (With music by Morton Feldman, Edison Denisov, Gunther Schuller, Olivier Messiaen, and four improvisations by the New York Philharmonic. Program notes by Tim Page in English with German and French translations inserted in container.)
- Sinfonie-orchester des Südwestfunks, Baden-Baden, cond. Ernest Bour [recorded April 1966]
- [1966]. György Ligeti: Atmospheres (1961) für grosses Orchester und Schlagzeug. Continuum für Cembalo solo. Wergo Taschen-Diskothek Neuer Musik. Wergo WER 305. LP recording, 2 sides, 7 inch, 33 1/3 rpm, stereo. Baden-Baden: Wergo Schallplattenverlag, GmbH.
- 1966. György Ligeti: Aventures (1962), Nouvelles aventures (1966): für 3 Sänger und 7 Instrumentalisten, Atmosphères, Volumina für Orgel. Studio-Reihe neuer Musik. Wergo WER 60 022. LP recording, 1 disc, 33 1/3 rpm. stereo, 12 in. Baden-Baden: Wergo Schallplattenverlag, GmbH.
- 1968. 2001, A Space Odyssey: Music from the Motion Picture Sound Track. LP recording, 1 sound disc, 33 1/3 rpm, stereo, 12 in. MGM 1SE 13 ST. [New York]: MGM.
- 1970. György Ligeti: Aventures (1962); Nouvelles aventures (1962–65); Atmosphères; Volumina (1961–62, 1st version). Heliodor. (Program notes by the composer and others on container and on leaf inserted in container.)
- 1988. György Ligeti: Kammerkonzert für 13 Instrumentalisten; Ramifications für Streichorchester; Ramifications für 12 Solostreicher; Lux aeterna; Atmosphères. Wergo WER 60162-50. Compact disc, 1 sound disc, 4 3/4 in. Mainz: Wergo. (Program notes by the composer and others in German with English and French translations inserted in container.)
- [1990s]. 2001: A Space Odyssey—Original Soundtrack. Polydor 831 068-2. Compact disc, 1 sound disc: digital, stereo., 4 3/4 in. Hamburg: Polydor.
- 1996. 2001: A Space Odyssey—Original Soundtrack. Rhino Records 72562. Compact Disc. 1 sound disc, stereo, 4-3/4 in.
- 2000. Musik in Deutschland 1950-2000: Konzertmusik, Musik für Orchester, Sinfonische Musik, Porträt. BMG Classics RCA Red Seal 74321 73508 2; 74321 73509 2; 74321 73510 2; 74321 73511 2; 74321 73512 2; 74321 73513 2; 74321 73656 2. Compact disc 6 sound discs, stereo, 4 3/4 in. [Germany]: BMG Ariola Classics: Deutscher Musikrat; [N.p.]: RCA Red Seal.
- Yomiuri Nihon Kokyo Gakudan, cond. Seiji Ozawa [programme recorded live at Tokyo's Nissei Theatre on May 1, 2 and 4, 1966]
- 1967. Orchestra Space at Nissei Theatre, 1966, vol. 2. Victor SJV 1513. 1 LP sound disc : analog, 33 1/3 rpm, stereo. ; 12 in. [Japan]: Victor.
- 1978. Orchestral Space. Varese Sarabande VX-81060. LP recording, 1 disc, 33 1/3 rpm, stereo, 12 in. [Los Angeles]: Varese Sarabande. Reissued in 1986 on CD, Varèse Sarabande VCD 47253.
- Wiener Philharmoniker, cond. Claudio Abbado [recorded live, Vienna, Musikverein, Grosser Saal, Oct. 1988]
- 1990. Wien Modern. Deutsche Grammophon 429 260-2. 1 CD sound disc, digital, stereo, 4 3/4 in. Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon.
- 2006. György Ligeti: Clear or Cloudy. Deutsche Grammophon 00289 477 6443–00289 477 6447. Compact disc 4 sound discs, digital, stereo, 4 3/4 in. Hamburg: Deutsche Grammophon.
- Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, cond. John Mauceri [recorded in Hollywood, CA: July 11, September 20 & 22, 1994]
- 1995. Journey to the Stars: A Sci-Fi Fantasy Adventure. Philips 446 403-2. [N.p]: Philips; New York: PolyGram Classics. (With music by Karl-Birger Blomdahl, Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith, Louis and Bebe Barron, Franz Waxman, John Corigliano, Richard Strauss, Alex North, John Williams, Danny Elfman, and Arthur Bliss.)
- City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, cond. Simon Rattle [recorded 1996]
- 2005. Leaving Home - Music In The 20th Century: A Conducted Tour by Sir Simon Rattle and The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, vol. 2: Rhythm. Arthaus Musik 102035. DVD video recording, 4 3/4 in., region 0 (worldwide). Also available as part of a 7-DVD set, Arthaus Musik 102 073. Leipzig: Arthaus Musik GmbH. (Excerpts from Atmosphères, as well as from music by Stravinsky, Varèse, Reich, Boulez, Messiaen, Mahler, and Nancarrow.)
- Philharmonisches Orchester Heidelberg, cond. Thomas Kalb [recorded late 1990s].
- 1999. Nacht der Planeten, vol. 1. Hoepfner Classics. Antes Edition BM-CD 31.9131. Compact disc, 1 sound disc, digital, stereo, 4 3/4 in. Bühl: Bella Musica Edition. (With music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Alexander Raskatov.)
- Berliner Philharmoniker, cond. Jonathan Nott [recorded Berlin, Philharmonie, 13–16 Dec 2001]
- 2002. The Ligeti Project II. (With: Ligeti, Lontano, San Francisco Polyphony, Apparitions, and Concert românesc.). Teldec Classics 8573-88261-2. Compact disc recording. Hamburg: Teldec Classics
- 2008. Reissued as disc 2 of The Ligeti Project: Atmosphères, Chamber Concerto, Etc. 5-CDs. Teldec 510998; Warner Classics 2564 69673-5. Hamburg: Teldec Classics.; [United Kingdom]: Warner Classics.
Further reading
- Bauer, Amy. 2001. "'Composing the Sound Itself': Secondary Parameters and Structure in the Music of Ligeti". Indiana Theory Review 22, no. 1 (Spring): 37–64.
- Bauer, Amy. 2004. "'Tone-color, Movement, Changing Harmonic Planes': Cognition, Constraints and Conceptual Blends in Modernist Music". In The Pleasure of Modernist Music: Listening, Meaning, Intention, Ideology, edited by Arved Ashby, 121–52. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press. ISBN 1-58046-143-3.
- Bayer, Francis. 1989. "Atmosphères de György Ligeti: Éléments pour une analyse". Analyse Musicale, no. 15 (April): 18–24.
- Beurmann, A. E., and A. Schneider. 1991. "Struktur, Klang, Dynamik: Akustische Untersuchungen an Ligetis Atmosphères". Hamburger Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft 11:311–34.
- Burde, Wolfgang. 1993. György Ligeti: Eine Monographie. Zürich: Atlantis-Musikbuch-Verlag.
- Engel, Jens Markus. 2005. "Klangkomposition als postserielle Strategie: György Ligetis Mikropolyphonie und Helmut Lachenmanns musique concrète instrumentale". Masters thesis. University of Lüneburg.
- Floros, Constantin. 1996. György Ligeti. Jenseits von Avantgarde und Postmoderne. Österreichische Musikzeitedition 26. Vienna: Lafite.
- Floros, Constantin. 1997. "Der irisierende Klang: Anmerkungen zu Ligetis Atmosphères". In Lass singen, Gesell, lass rauschen...': Zur Ästhetik und Anästhetik in der Musik, edited by Otto Kolleritsch, 182-193. Studien zur Wertungsforschung, no. 32. Vienna: Universal Edition. ISBN 3-7024-0220-9.
- Griffiths, Paul. 1997. György Ligeti, second edition. The Contemporary Composers. London: Robson Books.
- Griffiths, Paul. 2001. "Ligeti, György (Sándor)". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley SadieStanley SadieStanley Sadie CBE was a leading British musicologist, music critic, and editor. He was editor of the sixth edition of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians , which was published as the first edition of the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians.Sadie was educated at St Paul's School,...
and John TyrrellJohn Tyrrell (professor of music)John Tyrrell was born in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia in 1942. He studied at the universities of Cape Town, Oxford and Brno. In 2000 he was appointed Research Professor at Cardiff University....
. London: Macmillan Publishers. - Kaufmann, Harald. 1969. "Strukturen im Strukturlosen: Über György Ligetis "Atmosphères"". In Spurlinien: analytische Aufsätze über Sprache und Musik, 107–17. Vienna: E. Lafite.
- Lobanova, Marina. 2002. György Ligeti: Style, Ideas, Poetics. Berlin: Kuhn.
- Nordwall, Ove. 1971. György Ligeti: eine Monographie. Mainz: Schott.
- Restagno, Enzo. 1985. Ligeti. Musica contemporanea 1; Biblioteca di cultura musicale: Autori e opere. Turin: Edizioni di Torino/Musica. ISBN 8870630366.
- Richter, Christoph. 2004. Religiöse Erfahrungen mit Musik: Johann Sebastian Bach: Christ lag in Todesbanden, Kantate zum Ostersonntag, György Ligeti: Atmosphères, Arvo Pärt: Fratres. Ein musikpädogogisches Projekt für den Musikunterricht, für den Religionsunterricht und für die kirchenmusikalische Arbeit. Altenmedingen: Junker. ISBN 3-937628-02-9.
- Salmenhaara, Erkki. 1969. Das musikalische Material und seine Behandlung in den Werken "Apparitions", "Atmosphères", "Aventures" und "Requiem" von György Ligeti. Forschungsbeiträge zur Musikwissenschaft 19. Regensburg: Bosse-Verlag.
- Schneider, Albrecht, and Andreas E. Beurmann. 1991. "Struktur, Klang, Dynamik: Akustische Untersuchungen an Ligetis Atmosphères". Hamburger Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft 11:311–34.
- Schneider, Sigrun. 1975. "Zwischen Statik und Dynamik: Zur formalen Analyse von Ligetis Atmosphères". Musik & Bildung: Praxis Musikerziehung 7, no. 10:506–10.
- Steinitz, Richard. 2003. György Ligeti: Music of the Imagination. London: Faber and Faber ISBN 0571176313; Boston: Northeastern University Press. ISBN 1555535518 (cloth).
- Suplicki, Markus. 1995. "György Ligeti, Atmosphères: Eine unkausale Form?". Musiktheorie 10, no. 3:235–47.
- Toop, Richard. 1999. György Ligeti. London: Phaidon Press. ISBN 0714837954.
- Vogt, Hans. 1982. Neue Musik seit 1945. Stuttgart: Reclam.
- Wienke, Gerhard. 1990. "György Ligeti: Atmosphères". In 111 Schlüsselwerke der Musik: von der Mehrstimmigkeit zum emanzipierten Geräusch, 182–83. Bonn: Bouvier-Verlag.
External links
- Hufner, Martin. 1999. "György Ligeti: Atmosphères für großes Orchester: Sensationen in der Luft". kritische musik.de (Accessed 21 February 2010)
- Video including portions of Atmosphères played backwards.