Micropolyphony

Template:Short description Template:Use shortened footnotes Micropolyphony is a kind of polyphonic musical texture developed by György Ligeti, which consists of many lines of dense canons moving at different tempos or rhythms, thus resulting in tone clusters.Template:Citation needed According to David Cope, "micropolyphony resembles cluster chords, but differs in its use of moving rather than static lines"; it is "a simultaneity of different lines, rhythms, and timbres".Template:Sfn

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

The earliest example of micropolyphony in Ligeti's work occurs in the second movement (mm 25–37) of his orchestral composition Apparitions.Template:Sfn He used the technique in a number of his other works, including Atmosphères for orchestra; the first movement of his Requiem for soprano, mezzo-soprano, mixed choir, and orchestra; the unaccompanied choral work Lux aeterna; and Lontano for orchestra. Micropolyphony is easier with larger ensembles or polyphonic instruments such as the piano,Template:Sfn though the Poème symphonique for a hundred metronomes creates "micropolyphony of unparallelled complexity".Template:Sfn Many of Ligeti's piano pieces are examples of micropolyphony applied to complex "minimalist" Steve Reich and Pygmy music derived rhythmic schemes.

References

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Further reading

• Drott, Eric (2011). "Lines, Masses, Micropolyphony: Ligeti's Kyrie and the 'Crisis of the Figure'". Perspectives of New Music 49, no. 1 (Winter):4–46.
• Template:Ill (2003). "Beszélgetések Ligeti Györgyyel", translated by Gabor J. Schabert. In Ligeti in Conversation with Péter Várnai, Josef Häusler, Claude Samuel, and Himself, pp. 13–82. Eulenberg Music Series. London: Eulenberg Books. Template:ISBN.Template:Verify source