118 Notes, September 2019

(along with their adaption in the twen- He fathers-forth whose beauty is pást tieth century), and ethnomusicologists change: exploring how the gamelan was em- Praíse hím. braced in North America, along with (Hopkins, “Pied Beauty,” stanza 2) other related cultural hybrids, can prof- John MacInnis itably reference this book. Dordt College This is a comprehensive life-and- works biography that belongs in acade- Metamorphosis in Music: The mic libraries. It is not hagiography. The Compositions of György Ligeti in the reader learns of Harrison’s destructive 1950s and 1960s. By Benjamin R. Levy. temper, his unhappy and unstable years Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. in New York, and how he sometimes [x, 292 p. ISBN 9780199381999 (hard- emotionally manipulated those who cover), $74; ISBN 9780199392019 loved him. Alves and Campbell recount (Oxford Scholarly Online), ISBN that Harrison’s outstanding regret was 9780199392002 (updf), ISBN how he treated people, and they share 9780190857394 (e-book), prices vary.] both the ups and downs of his life. Illustrations, music examples, bibliog- A reader of this book will note raphy, index. Harrison’s boldness in investing him- self completely in the art that inter- Long a devotee of György Ligeti’s ested him, without preoccupation with compositional theories, aesthetics, and a career trajectory or getting ahead. His practices, Benjamin Levy has published willingness to engage fully with ideas a book that tells the story of the com- off the beaten path made him a catalyst poser’s development up to about 1970. in the development of twentieth- What makes Levy’s efforts stand out is century American music. For example, his detailed and comprehensive study it was Harrison who shared I Ching of Ligeti’s sketches. By arranging the with Cage, and Harrison’s champi- composer’s works chronologically, Levy oning of Ives’s Symphony no. 3 (“The narrates the evolution—or, as he puts Camp Meeting”) led to Ives receiving it, “stylistic transformation” (p. 6)—of the Pulitzer Prize for the work. Ligeti’s compositional techniques from One might rightly conclude that his student days in Hungary to the full Harrison (along with his mentor flourishing of his career as an interna- Cowell) offers an excellent example for tionally recognized artist. musicians today of how they can benefit Levy argues for the necessity of by approaching all music (whatever its studying Ligeti’s sketches, because the provenance) openheartedly, to the theoretical systems he employed are ends of integration, synthesis, and, complex and cannot be entirely appre- then, new creativity to share with oth- ciated or understood in isolation. ers. As with other instances of rich and During many visits to the Paul Sacher beautiful variety alive in the world, ap- Foundation in Switzerland, Levy parent to poets and composers alike, consulted a trove of information perti- Harrison’s works stand ready to inspire, nent to his subject and had access now and into the future. Gerard to additional sketches that have only Manley Hopkins was right: recently been made available. Ligeti was secretive about his working All things counter, original, spáre, strange; methods, making this approach even Whatever is fickle, frecklèd (who knows more important. Along with his ency- how?) clopedic knowledge of the published With swíft, slów; sweet, sóur; adázzle, literature—in English, Hungarian, and dím; German—Levy inspires a high level of Book Reviews 119 confidence throughout. The few prob- only a few months for Ligeti to absorb a lems that surface with this book do not staggering amount of new information have anything to do with accuracy or in his new home. This is clear from his diligence but rather with a lack of con- first piece in the West: Glissandi (1957). text, as we shall see. Levy argues that the piece—for all its In his early Hungarian years, Ligeti shortcomings—provides important had to cope with increasingly difficult context for the composer’s later devel- conditions as a composer. The official opment. Ligeti quickly withdrew this musician’s union approved all music electronic “finger exercise” (p. 52), re- for public performance, and these deci- leasing it only in 1976 when his career sions were made arbitrarily. In this pe- was secure. Levy explains that the sec- riod, Ligeti faced further difficulty ond half contains the exact same mate- working in the shadow of Béla Bartók, a rial as the first half, combined with its much-revered composer whose more retrograde; but in an interesting twist, a radical compositions symbolized a spirit large amount of sound is filtered out, of dissent for Ligeti’s young comrades. making the texture less dense in the Even though Ligeti’s early composi- second half (p. 60). In Stockhausen’s tions, such as Musica ricercata and the Gesang der Jünglinge, completed only a String Quartet no. 1, owe some of their year earlier, part D of the structure is technical and expressive techniques to an exact retrograde of three tracks Bartók and Alban Berg, Levy points out from part B, with a few added elements many novel elements that contain seeds (Pascal Decroupet and Elena Unge- of Ligeti’s later style. For example, heuer, “Through the Sensory Looking- Ligeti derived material from folk Glass: The Aesthetic and Serial Founda- sources, hybridized sonata form with tions of Gesang der Jünglinge,” trans. “arch” form (p. 24), and evoked “noc- Jerome Kohl, Perspectives of New Music turnal” topics; yet, these approaches 36, no. 1 [Winter 1998]: 116). More- never seem so overtly imitative that they over, Stockhausen was also thinking in are overly derivative. Levy persuasively terms of windowing and filling in struc- argues that Ligeti’s early techniques of tural gaps; in the case of Gesang, he interval expansion, his complex devel- used impulse structures in sections B opmental procedures, and his individ- and D to thicken the texture (Decrou - ual reaction to Schoenberg’s twelve- pet and Ungeheur, 133). Although tone technique via Hanns Jelinek’s these associations do not take away book are all remarkable for so young a from Ligeti’s impressive early achieve- composer (Hanns Jelinek, Anleitung zur ment, they may help explain why the Zwölftonkomposition, 2 vols. [Vienna: composer thought of Glissandi more Universal Edition, 1952–58]). as a student work. They also suggest a Given Ligeti’s losing battle against stronger relationship between the the Hungarian censors, the tantalizing two composers’ methods than Levy tidbits of leaked information he re- acknowledges. ceived from the West, and the com- Although Ligeti developed a more poser’s correspondence with Karlheinz personal compositional language in his Stockhausen, his legendary 1956 flight next pieces, they still bear strong signs across the border now seems inevitable. of influence by (or reaction to) Stock- After stopping briefly in Vienna, Ligeti hausen, Pierre Boulez, and Cage—signs made Cologne his new home. Stock- that too often go unacknowledged in hausen himself put him up for several Levy’s writing. In Apparitions (1958–59), months until he worked out a more Ligeti’s approach to rhythm utilizes a permanent living situation. In such a more free, “statistical” serial method, richly stimulating environment, it took resulting in an “underlying framework 120 Notes, September 2019 rather than a strictly deterministic or- emotional categories in these pieces, dering of a set of note values” (p. 99). for which he provides fascinating docu- Likewise, Ligeti’s composition of mentation from the surviving sketch dynamics adheres to a statistical serial material. Ligeti’s ordering of emotional idea instead of strict ordering. As content in these pieces provides more Jerome Kohl abundantly documents in evidence of innovative adaptations of his recent book on Zeitmasse, Stock - serial techniques. Once again, however, hausen’s move toward statistical serial Levy fails to acknowledge the tantaliz- methods in 1957–58 were highly influ- ing connections between Stockhausen’s ential; yet nowhere does Levy acknowl- idea of moment form and Ligeti’s im- edge this pathbreaking composition plementation of episodic formal struc- (Jerome Kohl, Karlheinz Stockhausen: ture in Adventures and Nouvelles Zeitmaße [Abingdon, Oxon: Rout- Adventures. ledge, 2017]). Kohl adroitly points out Although many roots of his style can that Ligeti’s own description of his be traced to other composers, Ligeti methods in Artikulation (1958) could was truly a pathbreaking artist in many “almost be a description of Zeitmaße’s ways. Probably his most important Part Two” (Kohl, 140–41). Another gap independent contribution was his in context occurs in Levy’s analysis of flexible technique of micropolyphony. Ligeti’s Bewegungsfarbe (fluctuating Throughout the book, Levy sheds con- color) textures (p. 87). This technique— siderable light on this, from its humble in which notes occur so rapidly that beginnings in Apparitions to the full they bleed over the perceptual thresh- flowering in complex canonical struc- old between individual notes to har- tures in the Chamber Concerto (1969–70) monic effects—also operates in the ex- and Ramifications (1968–69). Levy em- tremely rapid passages of Zeitmasse. phasizes that unlike Stockhausen, Finally, Ligeti’s practice of dividing Ligeti felt free to develop quite inde- large beats into multiple subdivisions pendent approaches to handling loosely corresponds to Stockhausen’s rhythm and pitch. As detailed in his rhythmic formants in Gruppen (1955– polemical article in Die Reihe, Ligeti ar- 57). Ligeti could not possibly have been gued for the interpenetration of meth- unaware of these innovations, given his ods as an antidote to the “leveling-out” close association with the periodical Die that occurs when formal elements are Reihe and the Darmstadt school at this undifferentiated: “The total form is time. serially guided, but the individual With the great success of Atmospheres moments are, within given limits, left (1961), Ligeti gained increasing notori- to the composer’s discretion” (György ety, particularly after his brilliantly Ligeti, “Metamorphoses of Musical scandalous silent lecture at the Euro- Form,” trans. Cornelius Cardew, Die pean Forum for composers in Austria Reihe [English-language edition] 7 in 1961. Ligeti’s follow-up pieces—the [1965]: 11). In this way, a plurality of novel and appealing vocal chamber approaches unites towards a common, pieces Adventures (1962) and Nouvelles expressive goal. For Ligeti, technical Adventures (1962–65)—have survived purity was, in and of itself, not necessar- the test of time, for they include many ily the ultimate goal; rather, musical ex- tantalizing structural refinements as pression took center stage. well as witty and absurd effects that Ligeti’s Requiem (1963–65) is un- continue to spark the imagination. doubtedly one of the great expressions Particularly revealing is Levy’s astute of his ability to create emotionally in- analysis of Ligeti’s regulation of the tense music without being beholden to Book Reviews 121 methodological minutia. Levy again transitional sections. These transitions emphasizes Ligeti’s methodical avoid- take many forms: some are through a ance of systemization. In the Requiem, system of gradual changes in rhythmic completion of aggregates is not so im- modules or by utilizing common tones portant as the shape and contour of between sections (pp. 203–4). Ligeti’s the individual voices. Two recurring sketches show much concern over rates trichords (which Levy calls “signals”) of change in this period. The roots of provide road markers throughout the technique, however, again lead the piece, in distinction to the often back to Stockhausen. As is clear from featureless surface of pieces such as the sketches of Kontakte (1958–60), Boulez’s Structures 1a. In order to in- Stockhausen devised serial matrices crease dramatic effect, Ligeti did not that determined Veränderungsgrade (de- strictly order vocal entrances, further grees of alteration) (Richard Toop, Six overriding conventional ordering prin- Lectures from the Stockhausen Courses ciples. Some vocal melodies stretch Kürten 2002 [Kürten: Stockhausen over multiple voices, augmenting their Verlag, 2005], 168–70). These “degrees angularity and expressiveness. As of alteration” also play a part in the spa- Ligeti’s first major commission, the tialization of the piece. Stockhausen’s Requiem stands out as a testament to his later process compositions from the growing compositional skill and a mas- 1960s—particularly Prozession (1967) terly demonstration of how a piece in- and Kurzwellen (1968)—make transition formed by but not constrained through an overt topic. While Ligeti’s methods serial thinking can be both architec- are different, his concern over regulat- turally convincing and emotionally en- ing the rate of change in his music is gaging. What emerges in the Requiem the same. Of course, Ligeti’s accom- and its follow-up piece, Lux Aeterna plishments are by no means diminished (1966), is, in Levy’s words, a flexible by what was in the air, but Levy’s work and expressive array of creative tech- would be stronger if he provided more niques that navigate the territory context. between perceived extremes of Cage’s In his writing about the pattern- “reliance on chance” and Boulez’s “de- mechanico pieces—Continuum (1968) cision and automatism” (pp. 199–200). and Coulée (1969)—Levy makes many Up to the time of the Requiem, many helpful observations. In these pieces, of the milestones in Ligeti’s develop- Ligeti problematizes the boundary be- ment as a composer can be measured tween chords and arpeggios; perhaps by his development of particular tex- the composer meant to rebuke serial- tures, often deployed rhetorically as ists’ penchant for isolating perceptual blocks or as road markers. For exam- categories. Levy’s system for determin- ple, there is the “hocket” section in ing “primary” and “secondary” shifts Aventures (p. 152), the “Horloges within harmony is quite useful for talk- Démoniaques” section in Nouvelles ing about these pieces in a more struc- Aventures (p. 156), the sudden jump in tured way. It is interesting to ponder a glissando from extremely high pitch the connection here to baroque to low in Atmospheres (p. 121), “incom- bariolage—for example, Johann prehensible drama” in the Cello Con - Sebastian Bach’s Chaconne from the certo (p. 209), and of course the afore- Partita no. 2 in D Minor for Violin mentioned micropolyphony in many (BWV 1004), which contains passages works. The next step in Ligeti’s stylistic of two-, three-, and four-note chords metamorphosis was to integrate these which must be rapidly arpeggiated, cre- various techniques by writing more ating an effect similar to Ligeti’s much 122 Notes, September 2019 later music. Once again, Ligeti found analyses are enriched by his sensitive appealing ways to push forward without work with the sketches, and his narra- breaking the connection to the past. tive of Ligeti’s “stylistic metamorphosis” Levy’s concluding chapter deftly is more credible as a result of his work wraps up his study. He argues that the in the study room. diverse techniques Ligeti employed Though Levy’s book has many were ultimately meant to guide listen- strengths, his study would have been ers through musical form, providing more dynamic if he had acknowledged ways to navigate structure audibly. To some of the deeper influences in this day, the great appeal of Ligeti’s Ligeti’s development. In particular, a music is partly due to its sensuality. It more nuanced understanding of the is actually possible to follow the form evolution of serial techniques would in this way. Not straitjacketed by dog- have provided greater depth to this matic adherence to one compositional book. Despite this shortcoming, Levy’s technique but instead reveling in diver- work provides countless insights into sity, Ligeti’s music is ultimately greater Ligeti’s music, its aesthetics, and its than the sum of its parts. The general mechanics. He has convinced this re- process Ligeti followed in his viewer that Ligeti’s sketches are essen- sketches—beginning by writing out de- tial in understanding Ligeti’s composi- scriptions in plain language, progress- tional project. If Levy has plans to write ing to graphic representations, and a second book—on Ligeti’s music after concluding by determining particular 1970—his efforts would be much wel- notes, rhythms, and timbres—follows a comed and greatly appreciated. predictable arc that prioritized formal concept and dramatic viability over Paul V. Miller technical purity. Levy’s innovative Duquesne University

AESTHETICS, PHILOSOPHY, AND SOCIOLOGY Beethoven & Freedom. By Daniel K L Chua. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. [xi, 273 p. ISBN 9780199769322 (hardback), $44.95; ISBN 9780199773077 (updf); ISBN 9780190657246 (e-book), price varies.] Music examples, illustrations, bibliography, index. Ludwig van Beethoven was the first French Revolution, Napoleon I, and independent musical artist, beholden Clemens Wenzel Lothar Metternich’s to neither church (like his idol, Vienna. Yet he persevered, even Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) nor state turning—as Richard Wagner famously (like his teacher, Joseph Haydn). He argued in 1870—his debilitating deaf- liberated music from the formal, ness into a compositional asset. Indeed, generic, and aesthetic constraints of Beethoven’s life and work seem to re- the late eighteenth century, and in do- turn repeatedly to the idea of freedom, ing so set the nineteenth century on a be it from tyranny, convention, or cre- path of extraordinary, albeit often con- ative and physical barriers. In fact, his troversial, musical change. An unbro- enduring position as classical music’s ken string of personal hardships—an most visible figure may well come from abusive father, several thwarted loves, his ostensible ability to embody free- and an ill-fated attempt at brokering a dom in all its philosophical and practi- family through guardianship of his cal complexities. nephew—punctuated a biography set Rather than shy away from such com- against the political upheavals of the plexities, Daniel K L Chua addresses