György Ligeti

Musica ricercata

An irresistible elemental power emanates from the eleven pieces of the Musica Ricercata composed between 1951 and 1953. The early piano work by the famous Hungarian György Ligeti arose from experiments with minimalist structures of rhythm and sound 'in order to build a New Music from nothing, so to speak', according to Ligeti himself. The effect that he achieves with just a few tones is inspiring. In the first piece, he uses one tone to which is added another tone at the end. In the second piece, the music consists of three tones, in the third of four, up to twelve tones in the eleventh piece. The second piece of the Music Ricercata served as soundtrack for the film Eyes Wide Shut by Stanley Kubrick.