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RIP Gyorgy Ligeti


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:P

Damn

One of the greatest avant-garde composers ever. He is the only avant-garde composer that I've heard who actually sounded like he put emotion into his music. I truly enjoy his music. I for one will miss him...

Frosty

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(Copying my message from MM.com)

I admit I don't know much more by Ligeti than the obvious bits - Atmospheres and Lux Aeterna, and what other snippets Kubrick used in his films. But I've always been quite impressed with those and still intend to hear more.

Sadly, the newspapers don't even get their facts straight for a prominent and "respected" composer like Ligeti. Several of them reported that he wrote the soundtrack for 2001, to which users commented that his music was rejected.

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I thought he had been dead for centuries.RIP anyways

K.M.Who has never heard any of his music

You haven't seen 2001: a space odyssey? :mrgreen:

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A sad day - a brilliant composer.

pi

Who admits playing two ligeti piano etudes was completely saturating.

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R.I.P. I was just listening to his Musica Ricercata No. 2 on my MP3 player a half hour ago. I first learned of his music after hearing this song in Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut". I then bought his Works for Piano performed by Pierre-Laurent Aimard. I really enjoyed his dramatic style.

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I thought he had been dead for centuries.RIP anyways

K.M.Who has never heard any of his music

You haven't seen 2001: a space odyssey? :mrgreen:

I don't think K.M. is the sorta guy who can sit all the way through A Space Odyssey but I'm quite certain he saw Charlie And The Chocolat Factory ("Requiem for Soprano, Mezzo Soprano, Two Mixed Choirs and Orchestra").

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  • 2 weeks later...
(Copying my message from MM.com)

Sadly, the newspapers don't even get their facts straight for a prominent and "respected" composer like Ligeti. Several of them reported that he wrote the soundtrack for 2001, to which users commented that his music was rejected.

Yes I read a few of these articles myself. "Composer for 2001: A Space Odyssey passes away" or something to that effect.

If I remember the story correctly, didn't a near-broke Ligeti go to the movie theater in 1968 to see A Space Odyssey with absolutely no knowledge that his music was used in it? Apparently Kubrick and Co. didn't believe in spending money on music, period, be it original or already published.

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If I remember the story correctly, didn't a near-broke Ligeti go to the movie theater in 1968 to see A Space Odyssey with absolutely no knowledge that his music was used in it? Apparently Kubrick and Co. didn't believe in spending money on music, period, be it original or already published.

I'm not sure whether that's true. But it might be since Kubrick was extremely secretive about the score. He even misled the studios. Alex North, who composed the original music (and got paid for it, so it wasn't about the money), attended the premiere to discover his score wasn't used. That hurt.

Anyways, in the end, Ligeti profited very well from this movie.

Alex

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It's more or less true, at least. Apparently Ligeti heard from friends that the new Kubrick movie was using his music. He hadn't received any money. Later, he went to court and got at least some money out of it in the aftermath. He always said though that he thought Kubrick was a brilliant director, and the film and use of his music were great as well.

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It's more or less true, at least. Apparently Ligeti heard from friends that the new Kubrick movie was using his music. He hadn't received any money. Later, he went to court and got at least some money out of it in the aftermath. He always said though that he thought Kubrick was a brilliant director, and the film and use of his music were great as well.

Not to mention he got a worldwide audience that discovered the music of an avant-gardist.

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Robert C. Cumbow's article on the music tells us how György Ligeti "took successful legal action for the unauthorized modification of his music", particularly concerning the electronically treated excerpts from Ligeti's Adventures.

As a matter of fact, Ligeti never got as far as to the court with his case. The story is this: Ligeti met a friend, who'd seen "2001:A Space Odyssey". The friend commented on the use of Ligeti's music in the film - much to Ligeti's surprise: he had not seen it himself. What is more, Kubrick had never asked permission to use Ligeti's compositions. His lawyer contacted MGM, claiming that the use of Ligeti's music was illegal - MGM replied that Ligeti had every right to complain, but since all of the legal business was taken care of by an English agency, a lawsuit should be addressed to the people in England. This was the beginning of a lengthy correspondence proving that Ligeti had a case, but that a judicial process would be long and costly. Finally Ligeti decided not to go to court. An agreement was made with Kubrick's management securing the composer a compensation - probably a lot less than what he was entitled to, yet still more than what was the first intention of Kubrick and MGM. The story might stain Kubrick's reputation as a gentleman - but gentleman ship doesn't necessarily apply when it comes to art. The choice of music for "2001:A Space Odyssey" is a work of art - and this, probably definitive, soundtrack goes a long way toward proving it.

http://www.in70mm.com/newsletter/1997/48/s...dtrack/2001.htm

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But the gentlemanship comment was referred to Kubrick, not Ligeti.

Whoops, I didn't pay enough attention there. Ok, in that case: Since when has Kubrick been considered a gentleman? :)

:angry: Cutthroat Island (John Debney)

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