Compositie

György Ligeti (1923 - 2006)

Werk: Lux Aeterna
Voor 16 stemmig koor a capella ( Sopraan, Alt, Tenor en Bas (4 x 4)) )

Compositietechniek: micropolyphony, 

canon die in verschillende tempo's en ritmes bewegen.

Een tekst van Ligeti over micropolyphony:

Differences between micropolyphonic texure and conventional polyphonic texture can be explained by Ligeti's own description:

Technically speaking I have always approached musical texture through part-writing. Both Atmosphères and Lontano have a dense canonic structure. But you cannot actually hear the polyphony, the canon. You hear a kind of impenetrable texture, something like a very densely woven cobweb. I have retained melodic lines in the process of composition, they are governed by rules as strict as Palestrina's or those of the Flemish school, but the rules of this polyphony are worked out by me. The polyphonic structure does not come through, you cannot hear it; it remains hidden in a microscopic, underwater world, to us inaudible. I call it micropolyphony (such a beautiful word!). 

Lux Aeterna werd gebruikt in de film Space Odyssey 2001 van Stanly Kubrick