György Ligeti – Ramifications (String Orchestra Version)
Ramifications, for 12 strings (or string orchestra), (1968-1969)
Sinfonieorchester Des Südwestfunks, Baden-Baden
Ernest Bour
Ramifications can be performed either with twelve solo strings or with a string orchestra in twelve parts. The forces are divided into two groups: the first is made up of three violins, viola, cello, and double bass; the second is four violins, viola, and cello. The latter group plays retuned, to a quarter-tone above the first group. Ligeti uses a rhythmic process in Ramifications that’s similar to a technique used in the harpsichord piece Continuum (1968), written around the same time, in which fast-repeating small motifs phase with one another forming new rhythmic « nodes » and pulsing macro-rhythms. In his earlier Atmosphères (1961), Ligeti created an amorphous, undefined texture by juxtaposing the same melodic material in many different tempos. In Ramifications he applies an analogous principle to pitch. By tuning the two groups of instruments a quarter-tone apart, he initiated a performance situation in which the two groups will subconsciously attempt to retune to each other. The different degrees to which individual players will make this « correction » produces the unfocussed harmonic world of Ramifications: there are no « pure » chromatic or diatonic harmonies, nor are there « pure » quarter-tone harmonies. It is the potential of entropy that Ligeti enjoys, from these intonational vagueries to the semantic absurdity of the Aventures pieces, to the failing mechanical apparatus of the Chamber Concerto and Poème symphonique. Ramifications begins similarly to the Cello Concerto (1966), with a narrow range of pitches gradually expanded while also ascending. The ascent leads to near-stasis before the texture thickens and something like a true melody intervenes, fleetingly. Sudden changes in dynamics mark the second half of the piece, in which the predominant texture reverts to phase-shifting rhythmic patterns. At about the seven-minute mark, double bass at its lowest range signals the beginning of the end. High harmonics in the violins join the bass in a reflection of the closing moments of the first movement of the Cello Concerto. [allmusic.com]
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