6 Bagatelles for Wind Quintet (Ligeti)
Movements
i Allegro con spirito, ii Rubato Lamentoso, iii Allegro Grazioso, iv Presto ruvido, v Adagio Mesto. Bela Bartok in Memoriam, vi Molto vivace, Capriccioso
Notes
The Six Bagatelles are arrangements by Ligeti of a selection from his eleven-movement piano cycle “Musica Ricercata” (1953) in which the first movement is restricted to only two, pitches, the second to three, building up to the full twelve notes of the Western chromatic scale in the final movement. The opening Bagatelle showcases this method and its potential by generating multiple exciting ideas from just four pitches. In the work’s premier, the set was performed without the finale, as it is was considered “too dangerous” by the Soviet Hungarian authorities.
