György Ligeti Volumina

György Ligeti (1923 - 2006), Volumina (1961 / 62; 1966), played by Franz Danksagmüller at the large organ in St. Jakobi, Lübeck.
Part of the program "Graphic Scores".
The score was adapted for video projection by Franz Danksagmüller.

[steverepasky]

In 1975 my organ prof demonstrated this piece to me on a large Schlicker organ -- it blew a fuse in the rectifier!

[jsabuilds]

This piece is the literal definition of "pulling out all the stops."

[TastyChips]

Sound design through extreme polyphony. This man was decades ahead of his time. Predating even the granular pioneers such as Truax.

[StefanoRattini]

Es kommt aus einer anderen Welt... Ich bedanke Sie ganz herzlich, weil Sie eine so grosse Arbeit gemacht haben, dieses Stück auszuführen.

[HarDiMonPetit]

Prodigious piece! And wonderful interpretation, using all subtleties of the organ timber, with an incredible variety of colours and textures. At 4'50'' for instance, you would swear to hear a crowd whispering.

[TonBil]

Wonderful composition, excellent performance, great organ! Danke, Herr Danksagmüller!

[guscairns]

Jeez the bit which begins with the subbass at 4:05 is the scariest piece of music I've ever heard....

[zoemartlew]

how I LOVE this piece!!! As fresh and compelling and dramatic now as ever. SOO helpful to see the score! Brilliant performance : )

[emmanueleperra]

G.Ligeti composition it's building on several levels of sound and begins to take shape.

[mikejones-qkou]

Mans journey into madness! "Some places are like people, Some SHINE and some don't"! "I guess you could say the Overlook Hotel here has something almost like "SHINING"! Awesome music!

[kuribayashi]

I heard Ligeti actually wrecked the first Organ he tried to perform this on.

[Phioletovii]

hah, I was at a concert yesterday where they played this piece, and i imagined similar images! = ) how interesting

[CoopersCrazy]

Love how the notation is just these thick, ominous, black lines, then it gets to the 8:30 mark and it's like hit all the keys that's right all of them not even at the same time just slap your hands over the keyboard. And then you get the Fun Squiggles!

[ZINSSTAG]

sehr schöNE UND SPANNENDE REALISATION ! Bravo !

[voyageur]

Rumour has it that they woke up Al-Quaida prisoners in the middle of the night with this piece of music at 100 dB in Guantanamo.

[christopher]

Don't listen to this if you're on drugs or have insomnia. The dissonant "beating" and oscillation comes in and out in such a weird way that it really makes you feel like you're falling out of your body. So disorienting. I'm checking out and coming back tomorrow to make sure this song isn't actually demon possession or some kind of "sunken place" hypnosis.

[leongreen]

New to me. I would now hear this as a predecessor to Xenakis' "Gmeeoorh." A delayed response to the suppression of the 1956 Hungarian Uprising by the Soviets? That would serve even further as inspiration for Xenakis' reaction to what was going on in Greece in the late 1960s early 1970s.

[lopesesilva]

... Maravilhosa Obra Musical Contemporânea * VOLUMINA* ... !!! ... Do Meu Querido e Genial Mestre ... GYORGY LIGETI ... !!! ... Dedico - a Hoje a São Valentim ... E a Todos Os Namorados e Enamorados ... !!! ... (( *** Convencidos *** ))

[maxrudolph]

Xenakis's scored a work call "Silver Apples of the Moon" some time in the mid '60s. Part of the soundscape was the recording of a 707 takeoff. It was published on the Vox label. I doubt if a CD was offered for sale.

[RobinBeaumont]

Fantastic - I wonder if there is a english edition of the score!