Kääntyvä kaleidoskooppi : näkökulmia György Ligetin pianoetydiin nro 8 Fém

Abstract

This thesis is part of the Doctor of Music degree in the Artistic Study Program at the Sibelius Academy. It focuses on the Piano Etude No. 8, Fém, (1989) by György Ligeti. Presenting the compositional background of the etude, the text discusses metrical and rhythmical aspects of the work and details the multiplicity of possible approaches to the metrical structure of the work.

As a performing pianist the author is fascinated by the metrical complexity and diversity of this piano etude. According to the performance notes by the composer, the etude should be played "very rhythmically and springy (with swing) so that the polyrhythmic diversity comes to the fore. There is no real metre here; the barlines are only to help synchronisation." Ligeti also requests that the piece should be played "with variety of accentuations ad lib." thus giving the performer great freedom to make the music "swing" in the best possible way.

The etude is a prime example of the demands put to the contemporary pianist. It is not so much a question of finger dexterity or technical virtuosity. Rather, the performers are asked to vary their perception of the polymeter with creativity and flexibility.

The principal research question concerns why it is possible to hear the polymetric structure of the etude in multiple ways. What kinds of interpretations do justice to the music?

In order to answer above questions the author also studied Ligeti's sketches in the archive of the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basle. Through sketches and literature she became acquainted with Ligeti's multifarious sources of inspiration, ranging from sub-Saharan folk music to trompe l'≈ìil drawings by Escher and mathematical visualizations. She interviewed pianists who knew the composer personally. Furthermore, in order to find different ways of shaping the structure, she organized a listening session for four musicians of European and African background with no previous acquaintance with the etude Fém.

The thesis contains diagrams illustrating the rotating rhythmical patterns in the first half of the etude. The music is compared to reversible figures and kaleidoscopic pictures. Supposedly listening to the etude follows natural grouping mechanisms in perception, studied elsewhere, especially with visual material. The author's intuitive metaphor 'kaleidoscope' deepens during the study. Kaleidoscopic principles and characteristics (like symmetries, repeats and rotations) were revealed during the analysis of the music.

The analyses of the possible ways of shaping the metrical structure of this composition may lead the performer to the inner possibilities of the music. It also helps to problematize the primary and probably easiest ways to play the etude – it is likely that a musician with a Western background will easily hear the texture in a regular meter, e.g. 4/8 or 3/8 time signature.

The thesis demonstrates that the whole spectrum of Ligeti's interests can be found in the eighth piano etude: e.g. broken mechanisms, dialogue between order and disorder, illusions, principles of Sub-Saharan folk music and elements of medieval music. As a result the author has gained a better knowledge and deeper understanding of this complex music, as well as greater freedom as a performer. This research encourages the performer and the listener to search for alternative creative ways of understanding the music.