Ligeti - Lux Aeterna

[uncinarynin]

I would love to sing this. At the same time I can imagine it must be incredibly difficult to sing it.

[Flegetanis]

Oops; I meant "Soundscapes"

[Flegetanis]

I've been a lover of Ligeti's a capella choral works for many years. For some reason, I only recently realized a similarity between this composition and the electronic "Landscapes" of Robert Fripp, which I strongly recommend to anyone who likes this piece.

[musfutmuj]

@Manch29 Coming from a guy who likes blink 182 we shouldnt expect more less. It´s a very good work of art, it´s a shame you can´t understand it.

[hehfilms]

@Manch29 You liked a song by Muse in your YouTube history.

Yeah.....

[joaquindalessio]

@Manch29 For not trained ears... of course, it is...

[joaquindalessio]

Top five in choral music

[BedBugAcres]

True haunting beauty.

[mishakhalid]

"Breivik, 32, appeared in court as police cut the toll of his murderous bomb and gun spree to 76 from 93. It also emerged yesterday he was pumped up on steroids and speed and listening to the violin anthem Lux Aeterna" oh so scared....

[1963theo]

@mishakhalid This is Lux Aeterna composed by Ligeti. The killer listened to the composition by Clint Masell. Two VERY different versions.

[MrAugustusinvictus]

This is similar to what I experienced when I tried to kill myself. I was somewhere else for a while and I felt a lot like this.

[tomaspepino]

This is what i feel all the time when i has depresion,

[scheffern]

@Faramir122 That wasn't a critic ! Exactly not, I think we haven't to be as humains to do so awesome things

[PAVELDOMANOV]

this music got nothing but aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...... oooooooooo.. eaaaaaaaa

[Faramir122]

@PAVELDOMANOV emm... actually... NO! It's got lyrics... That you don't get them is different: that is precisely the goal of the piece...

[PAVELDOMANOV]

@Faramir122 ok sorry man

[scheffern]

How much drug did he have to take for writing this composition ? It's very complicated, and poetry ! It's awesome !

[Faramir122]

@scheffern Why does everybody always think people has to be in drugs to do something awesome? Or thinking that the pyramids were not built by humans but by aliens instead? WHY????

[JediHobbit89]

@Faramir122 I believe its because of a lack of faith in human ingenuity and creative genius. Mankind is nothing if not creative and innovative. We may be dusgusting, corrupted little bastards who love to oppress, kill, and enslave our fellow man, but give credit where credit is due, I say. Creativity, in my opinion, is one of mankind's only positive traits. It is also a very potent and powerful force, able to create great wonders without fictional beings' help or the crutch of narcotics.

[JediHobbit89]

@Faramir122 A true artist needs neither, a weak one relies of the hallucinations of mind-altering substances, and only a fool looks on the works of the ancients as coming from extra-terrestrials. Sorry for waxing philosophical there, but your comment sparked my interest. ^_^

[SurgeCess]

love falling asleep to this piece right here.

[eddievhfan1984]

Just HOW THE HELL do you even get lyrics out of this?! THIS IS INCREDIBLE!

[Sisyanor]

Good as hell.

[obedebob]

wtf creepy

[ChristianPaul75]

Now this is music! Beauty beyond perfection. It pushes the singers to their limits - some notes have to be held for a whole minute. Ligeti was a true master of experimental music. His death marked the end of an era.

[gariadara]

sounds frightening, but also strangely peaceful at the same time. It's like listening to solar wind.

[antoinetiaf]

beyond humans vision

[bighugejake]

Holy shit, this is freaking me out.

[fingerpicking]

His work is just so fucking amazing...

[MikeIronweaver56]

So. Creepy. But so awesome.

[misscutesy69]

this sounds a bit scary...

[BedBugAcres]

I used to go to sleep to this music. Few pieces evoke the expanses of space and time like this one and it often helps to remember how small you and your troubles really are in the greater scheme. Awe does have its practical benefits, eh?

[BeauJames59]

@BedBugAcres I'm thinkin' it'd be great to hit the hay with this opening up my mind......

[rish987]

nice song but scary as shit... imagine waking up to this music in the middle of the night...

[youtubister]

This sounds awfully familiar ;-)

[misscutesy69]

@youtubister It's in 2001: Space Odyssey

[youtubister]

@misscutesy69

Yes, I remember it. Great film, great music :-)

[BeauJames59]

@youtubister The Shirelles covered it, Phil Spector, wall of sound you know (smile)

[youtubister]

@BeauJames59

Don't knock the Wall of Sound ;-)

[BeauJames59]

@youtubister Ligeti, the original wall o' sound, eh?

[youtubister]

@BeauJames59

Spector's 'wall' ("Be my Baby") beat Ligeti's by about three years ;-)

[BeauJames59]

@youtubister LOL, OMBob!

[MarkusDMeier]

Was für unglaubliche Musik, was ?! Aber ich finde die Aufnahme mit Erik Erikson noch knackiger und wärmer zugleich, diese "heult" ein bischen, oder ??! Ist übrigens dem Tod von Matias Seiber gewidmet, der weltweit den ersten Lehrstuhl für Jazz überhaupt hatte - und zwar nicht in den USA, sondern in Frankfurt (Main) ! ´33 natürlich durch die Kackhosen geschlossen ...

[Bagas]

Mediafire anyone? please:) Ligeti choral works

[CALLAMAYMARK]

MUSIQUE DU FILM 2001 ODYSSEE DE L'ESPACE DU GEANT STANLEY KUBRICK

[Bassbait]

@CALLAMAYMARK I don't understand the language, but I think I can translate:

This music is in 2001, and Kubrick is a genius?

Now I'll actually figure out what it really says:

The music of the film "2001: A Space Odyssey", of the giant Stanley Kubrick.

At least, that's a rough interpretation of what the babel fish translator said...

I agree! Kubrick is a giant!

[Scarface8394]

very scary xD

[j6bertrand]

My choir is performing this a week from today. Not the greatest performance of this piece I've heard. I definitely prefer to only hear 16 voices on this (senza vibrato...). Just my personal taste though.

[mascbp10]

Very creepy. I love it.

[Mutzpudding]

@mascbp10 if you thing this is creepy listen to john cages music :D e.g. "rozart mix"

[parrotsarnoso]

Amazing..!..this is the sound of the movie "2010" Space Odyssey ....when they find the monolith near Jupiter and on the moon

[herauthon]

ALL NONSENSE - ihmo

check this

watch?v=e3fqE01YYWs

[iskivolkl11]

CRAZY overtone at 4:56

[NussieCullen]

Ligeti's from Hugary!!Me tooooooo!:D

[germromeo]

why cut it short, there are still 7 measures of rest after the altos cut out.

[gnikhilg]

makes me feel a little breathless- proust apparently tries for the same effect!-

[hogweed89]

amazing work. i love ligeti

[joes49]

Speaking of atonal, try this: Unsuk Chins "Su.

[athb4hu]

Great! 2001 a Space Odyssey was my first intro to Ligeti (yes, I was there), and he was certainly a genius. I even saw him ive a lecture once (in London). Magyarul is tanultam azóta - de nem őmiatta! Thanx 4 this

[pvdgomes]

@athb4hu How many of us have been introduced to Ligeti's music through 2001? I also was. I must confess that I didn't realise it was "music" when I first heard it as part of the soundtrack... Years later I became a fan. I'm sure Kubrick didn't imagine how many people would discover contemporary music through his once provisional soundtrack for this film.

[lifeson46]

@pvdgomes first time i heard this peice was in a movie theater at 7 years old. Now 42 years later it still gives me chills and the movie 2001...an awesome pice of work

[Miiwie]

It's just amazing ... I feal fear and peacefull on the same time ... When my professor show this to us ... Wow ...

[ausrotten9]

Rudolf Otto defines Numinous as the prescense of the Divine. In this numinous experience, Rudolf makes two divisions:  Mysterium and tremendum. When I see the ghosts of reality - in the cosmos and in music - I am overwhelmed with fascination and curiousity (Mysterium) and terror and fear (tremendum). There is nothing more beautiful than being both terrified and consoled by existence. I think you feel it too.

[AmunExorbis]

The light that burns twice an much only burns half as long...

...unless the light burns twice as strong

[debutrans]

wel hello captain obvious

[adordunio1]

The system of interlocking 12 tone canons make this piece a bitch to perform, but it is so rewarding to succeed in its execution. The only thing that can't be done in a recorded performance are the 8 slow measures of silence with which the piece concludes.

[Josefrainer]

This piece figures in Kubrick's "2001 - A Space Odyssee" besides Ligeti's "Atmosphères" and other music.

[OlDoinyo]

I'm not, on the whole, a fan of amelodic/atonal music; but I admit to a soft spot for this piece. Especially with the echoey acoustics, you have to admit it is atmospheric and evocative.

[buxheimerorgelbuch]

the translation of "the lyrics":

Let perpetual light shine upon them, O Lord,

with your saints for ever,

for you are merciful.

Grant them eternal rest, O Lord,

and let perpetual light shine upon them.

i think the music supports the essence of the text quite well. i love it!

[theprof1958]

This is the music that I want for my funeral

[cociss]

@theprof1958: mandace l'invito.

[gravityslave476]

i've always found this incredibly beautiful. i don't mean to sound corny but there's something about this that resonates within me when i listen to it..

[Gordos404]

I feel the same. But in my class i'm the only one who was pleased when our teacher showed it to us. Either they just analysed the cluster system or they refused to call this "music".....

[SkyGazer1000]

(answering from a similar thread) This classic Ligeti piece is a 16-voice canon, using a rigid 17th & 18th century contrapuntal composition technique, but in a distinctly mid-20th century application. Each voice is singing the exact same series of notes but in a different rhythmic sequence, or phase, essentially a round like "row, row, row your boat." You can hear this get started at the beginning of the piece. Of course, all to produce a gorgeous aggregate of sound.

[philcookemusic]

@SkyGazer1000 thanks for the explanation. i'm trying to get more into some modern stuff (expand my ears you might say) so your comment was helpful. not sure if you do, but do you know the interval at which the canon is written or the canonic unit? also, in what way does this follow rigid 17th and 18th century canonic counterpoint, considering he allows lots of dissonances that composers of that period would not allow.

thanks

[SkyGazer1000]

@philcookemusic My copy of the score is in offsite storage, but as I recall, the piece employs imitative counterpoint at the unison. There are a few key moments of homophony, such as when the basses sing "Domine" in a high register after the end of the first section (after the sopranos struggle with their high A with pp dynamic). Anyway, the unison imitation is pretty apparent at the beginning of the piece with this sequence of expanding intervals: F, E, F, G, F#, G, F, E, Aflat, etc.

[philcookemusic]

@SkyGazer1000 thanks for the explanation. i'm trying to get more into music of this period (expand my ears you might say) so your comment was helpful. not sure if you do, but do you know the interval at which the canon is written or the canonic unit? also, in what way does this follow rigid 17th and 18th century canonic counterpoint, considering he allows lots of dissonances that composers of that period would not allow?

thanks

[daveyflavey]

@SkyGazer1000 I'm sorry, but this piece is very far from a canon. I agree with what you said about the approach, ligeti did spend a lot of time studying palestrina and other composers from the 15th and 16th century. However, the compositional technique used is so complicated that the best way to fully understand Ligeti's net structure is to read Harmonic and Formal Processes in Ligeti's Net-Structure Compositions by Miguel A. Roig-Francolí.

[metasailor]

@SkyGazer1000 - also the combinations of notes used are distinctively non-classical - just about no tonal centre, which also helps make it quite unnerving.

[conductorreis]

Most of the time, people are afraid of something they are ignorant of. Maybe randomecanadiandude is one of those ignorant of avant-garde music. Well, i don't blame him. Many people are ignorant of it anyway. But then again, people have to understand that music has gone far from the great masters and is constantly evolving.

[kymon117]

Nicely said there, man.

But what did randomcanadiandude say in the first place?

[taoufiks]

si vs voulez entendre ça ,mettez votre tete ds un tonneau vide

[jonathanaconway]

Strangely enough, I don't find this particular song scary or "eerie". It sounds to me like the voices of angels or aliens, greeting a human who has arrived in their higher realm.

A perfect fit for the Moon landing scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey in which it was used.

[jonathanaconway]

Simply beautiful!

[lifeisart37]

This is so eerie. I love the way it shimmers and rings. Just marvellous!

[xtremenortherner]

On my 1st post a month ago, I had put down elitist musicians for excusing any talent/structure of their music because of the higher plane of existence they were on?! But,I like Ligeti Ives,Wendy Carlos,theremin& synthesizer versions of old classics. When you make your living playing music professionaly, you have to listen & play EVERYTHING. Its like having cheeseburgers or pizza everyday; sure its good at a party,but you get sick of it soon.Itsnice to hear something challenging once in a while!

[Sepharite]

First time listening to this. Not something I'd listen to daily. But from what I can imagine. It sounds like... the angry, scared soul, screaming from hell. Reaching towards you with their flail ghost arms.

Creepy.

[crono503]

i like your comment very much

[pipecub83]

Lux Aeterna doesn't sound random to me---I heard it in 2001 and spent years trying to find out what this piece was called.

[CroBabe76]

well i am most glad you found it....

[Fergymalergy]

I totally agree. It's masterful.

[KeithWhalen11]

The one thing I will say about harmonically challenging music is that the further you venture off in search of the lost intervals of music, so to speak, the smaller your crowd of admirers will be. This isn't an outrage and we shouldn't belittle those who do not have the ear for it, nor should we sit idle while they deem these works rubbish. Music is limitless, it is immense. If only works with V-I resolutions mattered I'd be a painter or studying to be an accountant!

[KeithWhalen11]

"..one work is a symphonic high mass which requires a chorus of 500, of course I know it will never be performed, it doesn't matter to me a strap. I was produced the will to write them and that's that." - K. Sorabji

He makes a great point, sometimes an artist is most successful when he is true to himself and creates art which he himself finds intriguing. Music is so vast, pop music matters just as much as the outer limits of classical, for they both influence the lives of those who listen.

[randomcanadiandude]

I realize that saying this is going to get me a bunch of down thumbs but I don't care.

The thing that bugs me about this piece, cool as it is, is that if one didn't know that it was by a great composer, it could be mistaken for a bunch of people singing random notes.

I think that when "Art" gets to the point where it is in-distinguishable from random noise, it has gone too far.

I'm certain that the great composers of the past would have identified much better with today's popular musicians.

[HelveteKeiser]

there is a great difference between the Godlike impact that immerse when the hairs of the bow touch the strings and the noise that is created when one does so...Today for some reason,passionate art is considered killing the form of art that is supposed to express your feelings,just for having people to say that you -the composer- are contemporary....I am sure that if I had posted this exact piece with my name instead of Ligeti's,I would be booed to tears...I hope you get what I'm saying...

[HelveteKeiser]

would have been*

[HelveteKeiser]

and I'm merely sorry by the use of English,I am Greek.

[booster744]

random? The precision of this piece, how the voices interact and modulate, is pretty obvious, perhaps you need to hear it through some decent speakers...

[rascaplans]

Don´t you reckon there might be people who do distinguish this music from random noise or whatever? I know you´re very young but maybe not "that" young to judge anything that means (in a certain moment) nothing to you or you just don´t like; especially if you´re studying music. Rule number one I´d say.

[randomcanadiandude]

Of course there are. Ligeti was a good composer, to those who know him. However, that being said, I'm convinced that the greatest works of art, are ones that everyone can appreciate on some level.

Beethoven's Ninth symphony, Da Vinci's, Mona Lisa, Pride and Prejudice... All these everyone can enjoy to some extent, even if it only goes as far as "Oh what a nice melody."

You must admit with this piece, that is clearly not the case.

[rascaplans]

Randomecanadiandude: You´re actually talking about the greatest "hits" of the history; all I wanted to say is that people are different, and there are different stages of comprehension of music; you´ll never know what music will touch you to the point that you consider it an everlasting masterpiece, it could be the same music you don´t appreciate now.

[DanielLovesPatois]

randomcanadiandude started that sentence with an "I think" which clearly points out that he intended to communicate his opinion, not a judgement.

he further hypothesised that leading classical composers would prefer popular music to the kind of Lux Aeterna, which is yet again a supposition on the grounds of his beliefs that creating sonic experiments of such complexity that they're no longer intelligible for the average human is "going too far".

clear?

[rascaplans]

When you make public an opinion, automatically it becomes a judgement, a personal judgement. People change, their musical tastes too; you sometimes feel ashamed of what you used to think but you definitely feel more ashamed of what you said. That´s all.

[xtremenortherner]

Bunk! While the great musicians expand the art of music, they still have to live,if money wasn't so important,why did Ligeti sue Kubrick?Oh,yes,to protect the "integrity of his music". There are too many suffering artists who live in their parents basement.,also remember that people VALUE what they pay for!

You must be one of those angst ridden musicians who think the world can't appreciate your artistry,yeah,yeah, contemplating your navel can be mind expanding,but the rent has to be paid,etc!

[TwilightFalls]

Not understanding something is different to disliking it.

I don't like Backstreet Boys. What is there to understand?

[xtremenortherner]

Ligeti filed a lawsuit against Kubrik for;

using his music w/o his consent &

only utilizing fragments at that.

I believe it was settled out of court,though.

Ligeti,typical musician,gets mad at someone for "violating his art"; er, ah, how many people would have even become aware of him w/o 2001 Space Odyssey's success?Probably just academics and other avante-garde types. Yes, I'm a musician ,too;but there is a business side as well as an artistic one; your lucky if they're both successful!

[FredeGF]

the thing that made ligeti a true musician, unlike you I can tell, is that he valued the art higher than the money. And with that whole "aware-of-him-therefore-he-sho­uld-be-grateful-thing" it comes to show that you also put fame before the art and the music. as a musician you should be ashamed.

[LUCADETENA]

Sinister *w*

[gallowswood]

This is wonderful! Thanks for posting.

[lethuel]

yes dont bite anyones head off!

[mc07fvjf]

What a hilarious statement.

[mryoung1989]

Because you don't understand it doesn't mean it is bad. You really are an ignorant moron. This isn't even particularly extreme or avant-garde.

[182278]

Eternal lust?

[Janitorrocks]

No, it's latinum for eternal light

[laqerhill]

latinum is a precious metal on star trek

[BraedenX]

hahaha yes he meant latin =D (I know you know)

[culandr1]

latinum is also an orrible sunject...but this song(i don't know how to call it in english) is just amazing

[YouSqueak]

and in latin latinum means latin.

[paulocosta1980]

kkkkkkk eternal lust foi boa.

Lux aeterna = eternal light (ou luz eterna).

Eu gostaria de pedir gentilmente que vocês americanos fossem tomar todos no meio do cu de vocês! (or I hope that my help was welcome to you, in most American lovers of good music!)

Thanks! :)

[182278]

...what?

I'm sorry I don't speak latin, I was just asking a question. Don't bite my head off.

And since you criticize my latin, maybe I should criticize your English.

[paulocosta1980]

yes, my english is very poor. I did not want to offend, sorry. have a happy new year. Ou seja, você e sua família, podem sentar num mastro.

[samoied]

Hahahah

[Plumenmaedchen]

We heard this song in music class while writing an exame about it - it's amazing. I'm trying to use this for our theatre class as well to put under a timeless scene - It's somekind of timeless magic.. <3

[Mytenomframsteget]

MrJohnWayne

There are no 1/4-tones in this piece.

Read the score, dimwit.

[MrJohnWayne]

its composed using 1/4 tones...which I find amazing

[laqerhill]

Mytenomframsteget is right, though I would say it nicer...

Yeah, this uses tone clusters, common in Ligeti's music, but is not actually quartertone music.

[trekie01]

speechless..absolutely magnificent piece of music

[The30YearOldVirgin]

WOW! Know I know were Hollywood directors get all those music used in movies about aliens!

Astonishing!

[musicaergosum]

Cut & copy from Wikipedia:

Atmosphères [...] was used, along with excerpts from Lux Aeterna and Requiem, in the soundtrack to Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" but without Ligeti's permission.

He he!

[raposofan]

Apologies to Ligeti, but I'm so glad Kubrick used it - it was perfect for the scene

[mobilemodelmusic]

@musicaergosum

I'm not sure how funny it is to use an artist's work without their permission, make a packet and not credit the important part payed by that music in the success of the film properly though a tiny share of the profits.

[Burrisant]

@mobilemodelmusic Didn't Ligeti love the film and ultimately benefit from the exposure?

[mobilemodelmusic]

@Burrisant

My issue wasn't with what happened with Ligeti and MGM but a comment posted here (now deleted) which made a joke of Ligeti not being properly paid in the first case (which quite reasonably he should have been (afterall, they'd paid the performers on the recordings they'd used). Regarding your point, should artists gratefully take exposure in lieu of payment? - even in a situation where others make lots of money from their contribution?

[cbeale1]

@musicaergosum Kubrick was known for his use of pre-existing music alongside an original score; indeed for many films he'd completely change the spotting and /or go through a number of original scores before settling on the final product. Quite the auteur.

Ligeti is SUCH a genius!!