Born in Transylvania, May 28, 1923
Died in Vienna, June 12, 2006
- As a Hungarian Jew, Ligeti had several traumatic experiences during his early life. His father and younger brother were both victims of the Holocaust (a fate that Ligeti only narrowly escaped himself).
- After the war, Ligeti finished his musical studies and began teaching in Budapest. However, during the Hungarian uprising of 1956, the composer fled to Vienna, eventually becoming an Austrian citizen.
- Ligeti shared a lifelong long of math and natural sciences in addition to music. He drew much inspiration for his music from these outside disciplines.1
- Ligeti’s music became widely known after three of his compositions (Atmosphères, Requiem, and Lux Aeterna) were featured in Stanley Kubrick’s film, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).2
- Ligeti’s music was used for the film without the composer’s knowledge or consent.3
Short biography
Composer’s website (translate to English)
Sources
- “György Ligeti,” Berliner Festspiele, accessed November 4, 2022, https://www.berlinerfestspiele.de/en/berliner-festspiele/programm/bfs-kuenstler/bfs_kuenstler_detail_68708.html.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, “György Ligeti,” Encyclopedia Britannica (2022), accessed November 4, 2022, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gyorgy-Ligeti.
- “György Ligeti,” Berliner Festspiele.