TT 263: Ligeti Centennial

New record by Han Chen

Sunday was the 100th birthday of György Sándor Ligeti, who I think of as the most accessible avant-garde composer.

Amongst a wealth of other treasures, Ligeti left us a stunning sequence of piano études that are universally considered one of the great contributions to the keyboard literature. Indeed, very little else written for piano in the 1980’s and 1990’s has entered the international repertoire.

For the Ligeti centennial, Han Chen has released a powerful new recording of the études, a Naxos disc that is simply a must-hear.

There are three books of Ligeti études. For a time there was only two books; six in book one, eight in book two, for a grand total of 14 that culminated in the bone-crushing “Coloana infinită” (“Infinite Column”), inspired by the famous sculpture of Constantin Brâncuși.

It was a bit of a surprise when Ligeti kept composing, giving us four more beautiful études as part of an unfinished third book. They are not as fully insane as the earlier pieces, so I am not sure if they are a good “closer.” Han Chen smartly programs the third book in the middle, along with two early (1947) Capricci modeled on Ligeti’s great influence Béla Bartók. I had heard the Capricci before, and didn’t pay much attention. However, Chen makes a surprisingly good case for their inclusion in the Ligeti canon proper.

The more important point is by placing the third book of études and the Capricci in the middle, Chen gets to end the program with the second book of études, concluding not just “Coloana infinită,” but also — as an almost nightmarish coda — the nearly-withdrawn first draft, “Coloana fără sfârşit” (“Column without End”), which has even thicker piano writing.

With laser focus, Chen sorts all the difficulties smoothly. I really dig something about how the record sounds as well. Recorded by Ryan Streber at Oktaven! Ryan is really becoming the cat these days. What would New York City do without Ryan Streber?

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At this point there are many excellent records of the Ligeti études. Back in my twenties, when I did my big Ligeti immersion, my favorite traversal of the études was by Fredrik Ullen, although Pierre-Laurent Aimard was great too, of course. 

The first person to show me a Ligeti étude was Benoît Delbecq, and it was Benoît who recommended the Ullen record to me. In 1998 Benoît interviewed Ligeti on the topic of jazz and other interesting things, this important document is hosted at my own site, Do the Math.

The “jazziest” Ligeti étude is undoubtedly the comparatively easy (but still gorgeous) “Arc-en-ciel.” The one I played in public myself was “Fém” with the Bad Plus. (Again, “Fém” is one of the easier ones, although it’s not exactly beginner piano music.) There’s amusing bootleg video of us doing Ligeti in front of a noisy Moscow club audience.

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Han Chen is part of Sono Fest! For his hour set (which repeats), Chen is playing the Berg Sonata (perhaps the greatest Op. 1 in history?), Ravel’s famous tone poem “Gaspard de la nuit,” Corigliano’s brilliant “Etude Fantasy,” and “Traced Overhead” by Thomas Adès.

One of Adès’s biggest influences is György Ligeti. For me it was a perfect progression: after I did my Ligeti immersion in the mid-’90s, I was primed to purchase the brand-new Adès records as they came out around the turn of the century.

Several years ago I cancelled my own NEC students to go see Adès give a masterclass, where Chen played my favorite, “Traced Overhead,” and the composer told Chen, “You play this better than I do.”

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The progression goes something like this:

Beethoven wrote an unexpected sequence at the start of “Les Adieux.” A horn fifth deceptively moves to minor. It might not look like much, but trust me, that first bass note was shocking.

Ligeti transformed that horn fifth at the start of his Horn Trio, a piece that began the great era of Ligeti at his most accessible and profound (including the piano études).

In Adès’s early “Traced Overhead,” the horn fifths are still there — look at the lowest register — but they are surrounded by a melt of falling chain suspensions. It’s absolutely tonal and not-tonal at the same time. Just gorgeous.