Ivan Karizna: György Ligeti – Sonata for Violoncello, II. Capriccio

@ Casals Forum

"I have no art theory. That is why many people are disappointed. I have no message to give. I cannot be pinned down to a uniform, verbally expressable compositional theory. Instead I always try out new things. That is why I once put it this way: I am like a blind man in a labyrinth, who fumbles around and always finds new entrances and comes into rooms that he did not even know existed. And then he does something. And he does not know what the next step will be."

György Ligeti - the man of new music, more precisely the man for sound surface composition and microtonality. His desire was always to penetrate into the interior of a sound, and he placed special emphasis on the sound material: different pitches, the combination of different instruments and - for our modern ear - weird sounding harmonies. For him, tonal language could do more than just pass on or reproduce old ideals from the classical or romantic periods. However, before he found his characteristic compositional style, he turned to one composer in particular in his early works: Béla Barók, one of Ligeti's great role models. Extending his style, he composed his solo sonata for cello between 1949 and 1954 in a folkloric, almost neo-romantic style. Dedicated to a woman who met Ligeti at the age of 25, the second movement of Capriccio nach der Meinung Ivan Kariznas eine unglaubliche Kombination aus ängstlicher und sinnlicher Liebe, und starker und emotionale Impulse. Der zweite Teil dagegen zeigt Verzweiflung und Wut aufgrund der Ablehnung seiner Liebe, dem endgültigen Ruin und der Verwüstung. Für Karizna bedeutet es viel, die Musik von Ligeti weitertragen zu können und möchte mit Ligetis leidender, wütender, fast rücksichtsloser Musik in Erinnerung rufen, achtsam mit Menschen zu agieren und sie nicht zu verletzten.