For Thursday, February 21

I have placed the article “On Form in New Music” (1966), by György (pronounced more-or-less like George) Ligeti in the 299Shared folder. Read Sections I and II (through the middle of p. 11). Many of the ideas laid out in this article are fundamental to the problem of understanding and interpreting 20th-c. music, especially of the post-tonal variety. Together with “Helvetica,” it will form a helpful introduction to the study of modernist and post-war Western art music. It is also a denser reading than usual. Pay close attention to the text, look up any terms or names you don’t know, and come to class with answers to the following questions, ready to discuss them:

• What, according to Ligeti, is musical form?
• What is the difference between music-itself and musical form?
• What kind(s) of meaning can absolute music (music without words, dance, staging, etc.) have?
• What does Ligeti mean by the “all-encompassing referential system of history”?
• Can you explain what Ligeti means on p. 8 about ahistoricity unintentionally becoming history? (N.B.: “no” is not an acceptable answer)
• What about Ligeti’s thoughts about form sound familiar from Caplin and our studies of pop/rock form and sonata form?
• What about Ligeti’s thoughts about form, especially in New Music (as of 1966), offer a new perspective on form relative to what we’ve already studied?