35+ Gyorgy Ligeti Quotes On Music, Experimental And Avant-garde

Gyorgy Ligeti was a Hungarian composer who was active from the 1950s to the 2000s. He is best known for his avant-garde and experimental music, which often featured complex polyrhythms and intricate musical textures. His works have been featured in films such as Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Gyorgy Ligeti on love, music, life.

Top 10 Gyorgy Ligeti Quotes

1. But if you go from Moscow to Budapest you think you are in Paris.
2. I was fifteen years old, and I hardly knew how to play a simple Bach prelude on the piano when I began to compose music, and at the most advanced level. I had never studied such things as harmony.
3. I think it was when I was nineteen, by that time the Jewish laws were already in force and the split was beginning to come about which isolated the Jewish culture.
4. For the past ten years I have had no financial problems.
5. I don't read such boring things. Life is too short.
6. But I do not want to use Hungarian verses for British people.
7. My grandfather was not a musician but he was an artist - a painter, a decorative painter.
8. I know already the music I will write. But the words? I have not yet decided.
9. I listen to all kinds of music - new music, old music, music of my colleagues, everything.
10. Stravinsky used Mother Goose. He was influenced by Mother Goose, indirectly, but very beautifully.

Gyorgy Ligeti Short Quotes

• If you come from Paris to Budapest you think you are in Moscow.
• I write bars, for the musicians, because they have to be together.
• I lived under the Nazis and under the Communists.
• In my piano concerto I developed this polyphony to much higher complexity.
• Gesualdo was very important to me, I wanted to do something which corresponded to him.
• Perhaps the better word is emotional yes, I am an emotional man.
• New York is the dream world, the center of jazz and rock.
• I think a composer is always interested in his last work.
• Once, in London, the BBC asked me what was my favorite English book. I said Alice in Wonderland.
• I like to stay home and listen to recordings.

Gyorgy Ligeti Quotes About Music

I only want to give a metaphysic for my music. — Gyorgy Ligeti

First of all I listen to music. I like music. — Gyorgy Ligeti

I don't use old music. — Gyorgy Ligeti

Yes, fractals are what I want to find in my music. — Gyorgy Ligeti

Gyorgy Ligeti Quotes About Years

Then, after the war it was impossible to travel, after so many years of Hitler and Stalin. — Gyorgy Ligeti

I continued to study Math and Physics on my own, but one and a half years later I realized that I did want to be a composer, and after that I never changed my mind. — Gyorgy Ligeti

People often thought Leopold Auer was Russian because he lived in St. Petersburg so long, almost fifty years. — Gyorgy Ligeti

Gyorgy Ligeti Famous Quotes And Sayings

Now there is no taboo; everything is allowed. But one cannot simply go back to tonality, it’s not the way. We must find a way of neither going back nor continuing the avant-garde. I am in a prison: one wall is the avant-garde, the other wall is the past, and I want to escape. — Gyorgy Ligeti

Steinberg is great. I should like to meet him. — Gyorgy Ligeti

There is a wonderful Hungarian literature, especially in lyric poetry. — Gyorgy Ligeti

It isn't false modesty when I say this, but although I am supposed to be a famous person it doesn't mean anything to me. I just sit at home and work. — Gyorgy Ligeti

However, I began composing as soon as I started taking piano lessons. — Gyorgy Ligeti

Well I live in Vienna with my wife and son, and I teach in Hamburg, there will be no changes in that respect. — Gyorgy Ligeti

When I was younger I was completely without money - when I was studying in Budapest, when I was a refugee. — Gyorgy Ligeti

There was a very famous musician in our family. He was a great violinist, an internationally known teacher. He was Leopold Auer. — Gyorgy Ligeti

Life Lessons by Gyorgy Ligeti

1. Gyorgy Ligeti's work demonstrates the importance of experimentation and innovation in music composition, pushing the boundaries of traditional forms and structures.
2. His music often incorporates elements of different musical styles, such as jazz, classical, and folk music, creating a unique and diverse sound.
3. He also explored the use of unusual instruments and soundscapes, creating a unique sonic landscape that has been influential in contemporary music.