Canon
Where to start with Ligeti
Essential works to know this composer by — spread across their styles-
VocalLux aeterna, for a cappella chorus
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OrchestralCello Concerto
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KeyboardHungarian Rock
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StageLe Grand Macabre — Opera
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Chamber10 Pieces for Wind Quintet
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KeyboardMusica ricercata, 11 pieces
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OrchestralPiano Concerto
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OrchestralViolin Concerto
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Chamber2 Movements for String Quartet
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Keyboard3 Bagatelles
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Keyboard3 Lakodalmi tánc, for piano-4 hands
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Keyboard3 Piece for 2 pianos: Monument, Selbstporträt and Bewegung
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Keyboard4 Early Pieces for piano, "Basso Ostinato"
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Chamber6 Bagatelles, for wind quintet
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Keyboard6 Etudes, Book 1
Listening guide
Hand-curated paths into Ligeti's catalogueMost Popular
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Atmosphèresheard in 2001: A Space Odyssey
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Lux Aeternaalso 2001
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Musica ricercata
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Étude No. 1 ”Désordre”
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Piano Concerto
Most Acclaimed
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Piano Études, Books 1–3 (complete)
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String Quartet No. 2
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Requiem
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Lontano
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Le Grand Macabreopera
Most Weird
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Continuumharpsichord — notes so fast the pitches dissolve into texture
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Étude No. 13 ”L\’escalier du diable”rhythmically impossible staircase to hell
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Études for Organ
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Apparitionsno melody — pure orchestral texture
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String Quartet No. 1 ”Métamorphoses nocturnes”
Similar composers
Same era, overlapping styles — by genre & period affinityWorks 56
- Vocal
- ● Lux aeterna, for a cappella chorus
- Aventures, for 3 voices and 7 instruments
- Mysteries of the Macabre, for soprano and chamber ensemble
- Nonsense Madrigals, for 6 men's voices
- Nouvelles aventures, for 3 voices and 7 instruments
- Reggel, for chorus
- Requiem, for soprano, mezzo-soprano, 2 choruses and orchestra
- Orchestral
- Cello Concerto
- Piano Concerto
- Violin Concerto
- Apparitions, for orchestra
- Atmosphères
- Double Concerto for Flute, Oboe, and Orchestra
- Lontano
- Melodien
- Romanian Concerto
- San Francisco Polyphony
- Keyboard
- Hungarian Rock
- Musica ricercata, 11 pieces
- 3 Bagatelles
- 3 Lakodalmi tánc, for piano-4 hands
- 3 Piece for 2 pianos: Monument, Selbstporträt and Bewegung
- 4 Early Pieces for piano, "Basso Ostinato"
- 6 Etudes, Book 1
- 8 Etudes, Book 2
- Allegro, for piano 4-hands
- Capriccio no. 1
- Capriccio no. 2
- Chromatische Phantasie
- Continuum
- Etude 14a, for player piano, "Coloana färä stârsit"
- Etudes, Book 3
- Induló, for piano 4-hands
- Invention
- Passacaglia Ungherese
- Polifón etüd, for piano 4-hands
- Ricercare: Omaggio a Frescobaldi
- Sonatina, for piano 4-hands
- Study no. 1: Harmonies
- Study no. 2: Coulée
- Volumina
- Stage
- Le Grand Macabre — Opera
- Chamber
- 10 Pieces for Wind Quintet
- 2 Movements for String Quartet
- 6 Bagatelles, for wind quintet
- Andante and Allegretto, for chamber ensemble
- Ballade and Dance, for 2 violins
- Chamber Concerto, for 13 instruments
- Die große Schildkröten: Fanfare vom Südchinesischen Meer, for trumpet
- Hyllning for Hilding Rosenbergs fodelsedag, for violin and cello
- Ramifications, for 12 strings
- Sonata for Solo Cello
- String Quartet no. 1, "Métamorphoses nocturnes"
- String Quartet no. 2
- Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano, "Hommage à Brahms"
- Viola Sonata