“Zero point” The Beginnings of György Ligeti’s Western Career

Márton Kerékfy

doi:10.1556/6.2019.00005

Abstract

György Ligeti and his wife fled Hungary in December 1956, travelling through the night of the 11 and 12, and finally reaching Vienna the following day. The existing materials dating from Ligeti’s early emigration demonstrate particularly dynamic correspondence with three Hungarian expatriates: composers Sándor Veress and Mátyás Seiber, as well as the critic John S. Weissmann. 33 letters and postcards and a further 11 replies, held in the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel, comprise a body of Ligeti’s correspondence with these colleagues dating between the final month of 1956 and the end of 1958. Although evidently incomplete, this unique collection offers novel perspectives surrounding the beginnings of Ligeti’s Western career. Reflecting expectations and future aspirations, these documents trace the excitements as well as challenges of “wiping the slate clean.” Encapsulating Ligeti’s evolving compositional interests and recounting the processes through which he forged new professional relationships, this correspondence reveals insights relating to the composer’s newly- emerging public image. Emigration brought many trials, yet upheaval simultaneously presented an opportunity to radically break with the past. Ligeti could redefine his professional identity as a composer. Although Ligeti felt uneasy in Cologne, it quickly became apparent that engaging in an official capacity with the Electronic Music Studio of the West German Radio (WDR) provided an extraordinary opportunity to establish himself in avant-garde musical circles. Initially shocked by these musical experiments, it was clear to Ligeti that his own creative path lay separate from the avant-garde scene with which he became acquainted in Cologne. Ligeti’s correspondence dating from these encounters indicates that he left Hungary with preconceived musical concepts and aspirations. His experiences with contemporary music rather provided the technical tools through which he could construct and articulate his own concepts, in a manner appearing current in the context of the Cologne-Darmstadt avant-garde.

Highlights

György Ligeti and his wife Vera left Budapest by train on December 1956, in the wake of the Soviet quelling of the Hungarian uprising
After crossing the Austrian border on foot under dangerous circumstances through the night of 11 and 12 December, the Ligetis arrived in Vienna the following day.[1]. It appears that Ligeti immediately began investigating their prospects, to which end he sought advice from acquaintances residing in Western Europe
During his initial years as an émigré, three expatriate Hungarian musicians became significant correspondents for Ligeti: Sándor Veress (1907–1992), Ligeti’s former professor at the Academy of Music in Budapest, who had settled in Switzerland after leaving Hungary in early 1949; fellow composer Mátyás Seiber (1905–1960), residing in the United Kingdom from 1935; and John S

Summary

Additional Notes missing missing letter of recommendation

Between September 1945 and the fall of 1948, Sándor Veress taught Ligeti at the Academy of Music in Budapest. Despite the missing documents it is clear that the correspondence continued throughout these two years, the intensity of their exchange appears to have gradually abated Their letters are characterized by Ligeti’s efforts to secure subsistence; they provide regular accounts of his activities and seek assistance in the form of letters of recommendation for grants and professional positions, benefitting from Veress’s European connections. The tone of their communication encapsulates a pupil’s reverence on Ligeti’s part, and fatherly benevolence on Veress’s; their letters consistently open with “Kedves Tanár Úr” (Dear Professor) and “Kedves Barátom” (My Dear Friend), and they refer to one another formally (in the linguistic sense) Ligeti addresses his senior colleague in a manner suggesting an attempt to gain favor and trust.[6] In December of 1956, Veress could only have acquired a scant impression of his former pupil’s professional and political activities during the previous eight years.

Cologne Cologne

Additional Notes two letters