Lux Aeterna (György Ligeti)
- Lux Aeterna (György Ligeti)
Lux Aeterna is a piece for 16 solo singers, written by György Ligeti in 1966. It is most famous for its use in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film "".
The text (in Latin) is from the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass: "Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in aeternum, quia pius es. Requiem aeternum dona eis, Domine; et lux perpetua luceat eis", which means "May everlasting light shine upon them, O Lord, with thy saints in eternity, for thou art merciful. Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and may everlasting light shine upon them."
The piece features many of Ligeti's characteristic styles, including:
*Micropolyphony, which Ligeti describes as "The complex polyphony of the individual parts [,] embodied in a harmonic-musical flow in which the harmonies do not change suddenly, but merge into one another; one clearly discernible interval combination is gradually blurred, and from this cloudiness it is possible to discern a new interval combination taking shape."
*Cluster chords, where every note within a given interval is sung simultaneously
*A focus on timbre instead of melody, harmony, or rhythm
Analysis
The piece can be seen as divided into three distinct parts, as designated by text:
"Lux aeterna luceat eis": The sopranos and altos sing very similar parts in Ligeti's characteristic style of micropolyphony. Each part has the same sequence of notes, separated by small time intervals. The tenors enter about halfway through this section, singing in the same range as the women.
"Domine cum sanctus eis in aeternam...": The basses enter, singing in very high falsetto, showing Ligeti's focus on timbre and texture. This is followed by a section where only the men's voices sing, and then the women enter on the text "Quia pius es"." The sopranos sing "Requiem aeternum dona eis" in a high register and gradually fade away.
"Domine et lux perpetua luceat eis": The men again sing the text "Domine"," this time in a more usual register, followed by the women's entrance, the altos in a low register and the sopranos in a high register. All parts gradually fade, and the piece ends with seven measures of notated silence.
The quarter note rhythm in each part is divided in an almost serial manner:
Wikimedia Foundation.
2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
György Ligeti — Datos generales Nacimiento 28 de mayo de 1923 Dicsőszentmárton, Rumania … Wikipedia Español
György Ligeti — György Sándor Ligeti [ˈɟørɟ ˈliɡɛti] (Georg Alexander) (* 28. Mai 1923 in Dicsőszentmárton, rum. Târnăveni, dt. Sankt Martin, Siebenbürgen, Rumänien; † 12. Juni 2006 in Wien) war ein österreichischer Komponist ungarischer und jüdischer Herkunft.… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Lux Aeterna — can refer to the following:*The Latin term lux aeterna , which means eternal light *The communion chant for a Requiem Mass, named for its incipit. It is often attached to the Agnus Dei movement, but composers who set the Communion as a separate… … Wikipedia
Lux Aeterna — Lux æterna Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Lux aeterna (Lux æterna en latin lumière éternelle) est le titre de plusieurs compositions musicales. La typographie varie selon les auteurs,… … Wikipédia en Français
Lux Aeterna (homonymie) — Lux æterna Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Lux aeterna (Lux æterna en latin lumière éternelle) est le titre de plusieurs compositions musicales. La typographie varie selon les auteurs,… … Wikipédia en Français
Lux aeterna — Lux æterna Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Lux aeterna (Lux æterna en latin lumière éternelle) est le titre de plusieurs compositions musicales. La typographie varie selon les auteurs,… … Wikipédia en Français
Lux aeterna (homonymie) — Lux æterna Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Lux aeterna (Lux æterna en latin lumière éternelle) est le titre de plusieurs compositions musicales. La typographie varie selon les auteurs,… … Wikipédia en Français
György Ligeti — Infobox Musical artist Name = György Ligeti Img capt = Img size = 300px Landscape = Background = non performing personnel Birth name = György Sándor Ligeti Alias = Born = birth date|mf=yes|1923|5|28|mf=y Târnăveni, Romania Died = death date and… … Wikipedia
György Sándor Ligeti — [ˈɟørɟ ˈliɡɛti] (Georg Alexander) (* 28. Mai 1923 in Dicsőszentmárton, rum. Târnăveni, dt. Sankt Martin, Siebenbürgen, Rumänien; † 12. Juni 2006 in Wien) war ein Komponist ungarisch jüdischer Abstammung und später österreichischer Staatsbürger.… … Deutsch Wikipedia
LIGETI (G.) — «Je m’imagine la musique comme quelque chose de très loin dans l’espace, qui existe depuis toujours, et qui existera toujours, et dont nous n’entendons qu’un petit fragment...» En quelques mots, György Ligeti résume l’essentiel de ce qui… … Encyclopédie Universelle
