György Ligeti’s Kammerkonzert: The First Canon

Marc Garcia-Vitoria

This study offers a note-by-note account of the opening canon of the first movement of György Ligeti’s Kammerkonzert (1969–1970), bars 1–27. The passage is built on a single forty-note row which undergoes different modifications through just two elementary procedures: elimination, which removes a pitch and contracts the row, and substitution, which exchanges one pitch for another while preserving its cardinality. Six successive forms emerge (α, α’, β, γ, δ, δ’), tracing a gradual harmonic transformation from the initial cluster to the more transparent, symmetrical collection of δ’. The present analysis aims to complement the existing analytical literature by seeking the simplest explanation consistent with every note in the score. A synoptic schema records, for every instrument, the version of the row, its direction, and its serial position. The few residual anomalies are examined individually.

Keywords: canonic imitation, compositional process, micropolyphony

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.22215273

Source(s), object(s) and method(s) of analysis
Source(s) of analysisScore
Musical workKammerkonzert
Year of creation1969-1970
Composer's nameGyörgy Ligeti
Target group / Study level
Level of Music Analysis knowledgeAdvanced, Intermediate

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