Ligeti: Complete Piano Études

Featuring

Han Chen
György Ligeti

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Composer's Artistic Vision

Ligeti's piano Études were partly motivated by his own self-described 'inadequate piano technique'.

Composer Biography

György Ligeti, a Hungarian composer, lost his father and brother in concentration camps during World War II and narrowly escaped death on the Eastern front himself.

Composition History

Ligeti escaped to Austria in December 1956 during the Soviet suppression of the Hungarian Uprising, subsequently working at West German Radio in Cologne.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Ligeti described his Études as neither 'avant-garde' nor 'traditional', and neither tonal nor atonal, but rather as 'growing organisms' that develop from simple core ideas to great complexity.

Compositional Technique

The Études incorporate diverse influences, including keyboard techniques from Scarlatti and Schumann, and complex rhythmic polyphony from sub-Saharan African drumming.

Performer Biography

Han Chen, the pianist on this recording, won the Gold Medal at the 2013 China International Piano Competition and is known for his commitment to new and lesser-known works.