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Book Review
Jan. 22nd, 2011 07:47 pmGyorgy Ligeti
by Richard Toop
I've become increasingly fascinated with Ligeti's music lately, so I decided I should learn more about him. This short and straightforward biography (another in the Phaidon series) was a great place to start. Toop is fairly objective while still maintaining a warm attitude towards his subject. Ligeti was a very intelligent, focused, and innovative composer. I especially liked the fact that he was able to be part of the 1960s Darmstadt-based avant-garde without ever becoming rigidly dogmatic about musical systems and compositional techniques - this kind of ideological inflexibility was characteristic of several other composers in that circle, especially Stockhausen and Boulez. Ligeti didn't seem afraid to change directions or incorporate new approaches in his work. He wasn't static, and that's what made him so interesting to read about.
by Richard Toop
I've become increasingly fascinated with Ligeti's music lately, so I decided I should learn more about him. This short and straightforward biography (another in the Phaidon series) was a great place to start. Toop is fairly objective while still maintaining a warm attitude towards his subject. Ligeti was a very intelligent, focused, and innovative composer. I especially liked the fact that he was able to be part of the 1960s Darmstadt-based avant-garde without ever becoming rigidly dogmatic about musical systems and compositional techniques - this kind of ideological inflexibility was characteristic of several other composers in that circle, especially Stockhausen and Boulez. Ligeti didn't seem afraid to change directions or incorporate new approaches in his work. He wasn't static, and that's what made him so interesting to read about.
