ABSTRACT
The twentieth century was a time of great, repeated worldwide upheavals which left an indelible mark on those affected by them. As a Hungarian Jew, György Ligeti found himself on the receiving end of persecution twice – during the Holocaust due to his Jewish heritage and later as an intellectual in post-war communist Hungary. Ligeti often spoke in interviews and essays about how he continued to live under the shadows of these experiences many decades later, but have they also affected his musical style? In this essay I want to investigate how the concept of cultural trauma might help in exploring this particular link between biography and music. In a recent study Maria Cizmic has proposed a reading of works by former Eastern-Bloc composers such as Alfred Schnittke, Galina Ustvolskaya and others not only as reactions to cultural trauma but also as specific ways to come to terms with it; her approach will be utilised here. I will first briefly outline what constitutes a cultural trauma and how Cizmic has transferred this concept to music before identifying five main musical parameters, three central modes of expression and one basic principle that in my view define Ligeti’s musical style. These nine elements will be linked to Cizmic’s observations in order to show that Ligeti’s music reflects the traumatic experiences he was subjected to and may also offer listeners a way to reflect on and engage with them.
