Artikulation (Ligeti)
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Artikulation is an electronic composition by György Ligeti. Composed and notated in January and February 1958, the piece was prepared and recorded on magnetic tape from February to March with the assistance of Gottfried Michael Koenig and Karlheinz Stockhausen's assistant, Cornelius Cardew, at the Studio for Electronic Music of the West German Radio (WDR) in Cologne.[1] The piece consists of various types of sounds, "in conditions of aggregation."[1] It "can be heard as a conversation without words".[2] Ligeti explains in notes to the listening score (see below):
The piece is called 'Artikulation' because in this sense an artificial language is articulated: question and answer, high and low voices, polyglot speaking and interruptions, impulsive outbreaks and humor, charring and whispering.[1][3][4]
The three minute and 45 second long[5] piece, in quadraphonic sound, was premiered March 25, 1958 at WDR Cologne's 'Musik der Zeit' concert series and September 4, 1958 at Darmstadt.[6] It was heard again March 1993 at the New England Conservatory,[7] while for recordings it has been mixed down to stereophonic sound.