Astudy Of The Composition Technique Of Ligeti’s String Quartet No.1

Ligeti is one of the key representative figures of Hungarian folk music. He, along withBartok and Kodaly, became known as the “Hungarian contemporary music’s Big Three”.His <String Quartet No.1>, also known as “Deformation Nocturne”,<MétamorphosesNocturne>, is one of his earliest works. The piece was completed between1953and1954.The composer used the melodic style of folk music, mathematical logic, a combination ofpitch structure relationships, counterpoint, a new harmonic language very different totraditional modal harmony, and a unique sound layout from the beginning of the centraltheme to its complex development and variation. The superbly skillful writing techniquesused in this piece, which include chromatic harmonies, meshed textures, andmicro-polyphony are testament to the composer’s careful thought and attention to delicatedesigns and details. This piece showcases a creative fusion of traditional and contemporarystyles, and although it is one of Ligeti’s earliest works, it played a vital role in thedevelopment of his subsequent musical styles and creative techniques. Ligeti was alwayspursuing new musical concepts-as well as creating the innovative compositional techniquesnecessary to appropriately express them-and became a model for other avant-gardecomposers to follow. These techniques were widely used by later composers in their ownmodern musical works, and make this piece worthy of study and reference.The following is an in-depth analysis of the “String Quartet No.1’s” pitch elements,rhythm elements, timbre elements and their dynamics, as well as structural elements and thethought processes related to polyphony.Based on the above scope of the study, this thesis consists of the following form–Introduction; Chapter I: Composers and their Compositions; Chapter II: The Pitch Structureof Ligeti’s <String Quartet No.1>; Chapter III: The Rhythm, Acoustics and Structure ofLigeti’s <String Quartet No.1>; Conclusion.