Ligeti Quintet

Stepwise Continuity as a Structural Determinant in György Ligeti's Ten Pieces for
Wind Quintet
Author(s): Charles D. Morrison
Source: Perspectives of New Music , Autumn - Winter, 1985, Vol. 24, No. 1 (Autumn -
Winter, 1985), pp. 158-182
Published by: Perspectives of New Music
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/832766
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STEPWISE CONTINUITY AS A
STRUCTURAL DETERMINANT
IN GYORGY LIGETI'S
TEN PECES FOR WIND QUINTET-*
CHARLES D. MoRRISoN
T HE TERM "CENTRIc" is often used to characterize music which, although

not structured according to the principles of conventional, major-minor
tonality, is nevertheless heard to be organized around a particular pc (pitch class)
or pc complex. While some non-tonal pieces manifest intricate and systematic
determinants ofcentricity, other pieces are without complicated hierarchical sys-
tems of relationships, relying, rather, on means of centricity which may seem
simple and basic by comparison. In such cases, identifying the structural points
and the sources of motivation between such points is of critical importance.
In conventionally tonal music we may look to the cadences for points of har-
monic stability and definition of key. And, although cadences confirm structural
*An earlier version of this paper was read at the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Society
for Music Theory in Philadelphia, October, 1984.

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Ligeti's Ten Pieces for Wind Quintet 159
points harmonically, we are often aware of tonal destinations before arrival

because of the systematic relations explicit in directed harmonic progressions
leading to those structural junctures.' In centric music, cadences also function
structurally, but events prior to such points are not necessarily "directed" in the
traditional sense. In fact, it is often not easy to determine what the goals are
before we reach them, and when we do reach them we are cognizant of arrival
more through conditions such as agogic accent, dynamic exposure, and rhyth-
mic caesura, than through specific functionally directed progressions. In these
instances it is only after the location and functions of the piece's structural points
are realized-a process which most often involves examination of the musical
material out of its temporal context-that we can determine how the structural
"pillars" are connected. That is, once the piece is familiar and its structural
points known, we can anticipate those primary points (we "know where we are
going") within the context of that particular piece-a condition I refer to as
"contextual anticipation," and one which is otherwise missing in light of the
absence of traditional tonal principles.
Frequently, the material linking such structural points, while not intrinsically
directed as to an applicable system of relations (as in diatonic tonality), consists of
contextually directed stepwise motion. That is, while the ear inevitably connects
contiguous (and even non-contiguous) pitches and pcs which are in a stepwise
relationship to one another, such connections are particularly significant, and
indeed most palpable, when the stepwise event (systematically articulated
through specified criteria outlined below) connects points otherwise articulated,
established, and thus contextually anticipated as points of "centric orientation."
In such cases, stepwise continuity may be heard as contextually directed towards
a discernible goal, appreciable in light of a known structural framework, rather
than through tendencies intrinsic to the progression itself.
The present study will focus on contextually directed stepwise continuity, as
described above, as it functions in the expression of pc centricity in Gyorgy
Ligeti's Ten Piecesfor Wind Quintet (1968)--a work featuring many disparate and
complex textures which, in and of themselves, impart gestural and emotive
qualities. In the course of this paper we will examine five pieces from the Wind
Quintet, treating each as a separate contextual entity.2 In the study of each piece,
a first step will be to establish the identities of discernible structural points,
defined as sonorities clearly articulated at the beginning (i.e., structural depar-
ture points), pcs or pc complexes expressed emphatically at or near the end
(structural arrival points), and/or internal cadence points defined by factors such
as rhythmic caesura, rests, and other surface indicators of phrase closure. These
junctures will then be viewed as to centric, prolongational, or other functions,
and as to the means by which they are connected to determine if and how inter-
vening linear progressions may be perceived as contextually directed.
It is important to stress at the outset that not all pitch and pc step successions
are significant; rather, inferred contextually directed linear progressions must, as

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160 Perspectives of New Music
alluded to above, be comprised of pitch events which are sy

according to stipulated devices and thus are perceptually veri
pitch events comprising structural linear progressions may
tive to others in close temporal proximity through dynamic
tral exposure (placing them in a potentially inferable outer v
association. In other situations, systematic patterns of pc un
selves be considered ample for the inference of linear connect
assertion of primary pcs and pc complexes and for inferenc
progressions are, however, specific to each context and w
explained in greater detail as each piece is studied.
We will begin with the fourth piece, which may be charact

"soloistic," an arrangement in which one instrument is hea
nounced than its associates. In this piece it is the flute wh
from the others through heightened registral, dynamic, and
One hears measures 8-9 and 25-27 as important cadences in
and measure 19 as a cadence point in the higher register. Oth
in the upper register-measures 2, 11, 16, and 17-are somew
of abrupt register shifts and are thus potential elements in lin
broader scale.
Keeping in mind the first cadence point in bars 8-9 as a

may perceive the flute and to some extent the clarinet and
tually directed toward that point. The flute part, for exampl
structed of successive two-note oscillations, the upper and low
may be heard to define independent linearizations. Althou
opens in a relatively stepwise fashion, before long it also take
ture. Example 1 shows the flute and clarinet parts from the
gested linearizations in the flute above the score and in the c
Four details in Example 1 are noteworthy. First, the two
activity in the opening two bars of the flute may be conjoine
progression connecting D5, the lower pitch boundary of t
F06, the arrival point of the upper one.3 The linking of the
earizations is achieved by the pivotal C6, the arrival point o
and departure point of the upper one, as indicated by the d
the outer extremities of this large progression, i.e., D5 and F
continue to the two streams which begin midway in bar 2
each case is a registrally displaced semitone, D5 "ascending"
stream, and F06 descending to F5 in the upper one.4 In t
pitch-class step connections are slurred. Third, while the f
abruptly at the end of bar 6, the linearizations effected by it
may be heard to continue in the clarinet part, as suggested
bars 6 to 7. The linear progressive tendencies, initiated by the
the onset of the piece, are brought to a convincing close in m

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FL. i----"- votal C)

I f
/9
FL.
SCORE 1
CLAR. R L -F "r i - r rIF 1 1iii ,r i i i I, it, -F9 I., I .i1
( inC) T, i/I ' , _ _ s -

CLAR.
"1"
FL. I" IF lii
1"f Isr
tm?A
A
=4
S.-
11
FL.
(in C) (caden
3 3 1
FL. ' I 1, IJ FrII-

:' J.-'JJ J. !! ,ili
SCORE
(BSCOE 51 4
r-= r--1 ,F=R(caden

CLAR. II
-FL. II,A
(BSN.)I ,.ati a1.
r1 W1
1 i 46
!..._ d ya d.!
pip.."-1-14
N.
EXAMPLE 1: PIECE NO. 4, MM. 1-8, SHOW

FLUTE AND CLARINET PARTS
clarinet and bassoon, the arrival points on D4 and C4 in those instr

ulating the cadence through a subsidence of rhythmic activity. An
cadential dyad, C4-D4, may be heard as the culmination of a m
prolongation (involving inversion and registral shift) of the D
which initiates the ascending bilinear progression in the flute (m
final detail is summarized in Example 2a.

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bassoon)
(a) Imm. 1 2 6 8
(cadential dyad)
canclarinet
(b) Imm. 1 2 9 11
...............
16-17 19
EXA
The
uppe
enth
C, pa
prim
reve
C7 at
func
nizan
textu
Whil
opera
ter a
impl
oper
meas

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activity in the upper plane-links up registrally to that same pitch in bar

opening of the second phrase. The essential motion in the latter takes off
this reestablished high point and consists of the progression from F96 to C
measures 9-11, to D7 in measures 16-17, and to EB7 in bar 19, the latter fall
C7 at the end of the upper registral stream, also in measure 19. The arriva
in bar 17 is accompanied by C6 in the clarinet while, as noted above, the
final C7 occurs with D6 in the clarinet (thereby effecting a voice exchange
details of the large-scale prolongation of the D-C seventh, culminating
upper register of measure 19, are given in Example 2b.
Concerning measures 19-29, the final phrase, all activity takes place
lower registral plane and the flute (the featured instrument thus far in the
is now dynamically equivalent to the other instruments; these measures ar
haps best understood as a type of"coda." Rather than reaffirming the pr
of the pc complex containing C and D, the piece ends in a contextually
ended" fashion with a C#4-D#4 dyad (a semitone higher than the close
first phrase). The function of this collection is unequivocal in light of the
ing of the next piece: C04 and D#4 encirle D4, the pitch center of that
reiterated in four-part unison in its opening bar.
The fifth piece, and its connection to the sixth, is the subject of the
example. As noted above, number 5 begins with an intense four-part
reiteration of the pitch D4, a factor which immediately imbues that pitch
sense of primacy. In fact, no other event is quite so potent and it is not cl
the preliminary readings of the piece how such a center is maintained and
(or even if) pitch or pc closure occurs. We have a pc center stated explicitly
beginning but we appear to have no arrival point (see the abrupt close o
piece with the indication "stop as though torn off'). The pc content of n
5 unfolds according to four different twelve-note orderings, coincident, f
most part, with the four main formal sections of the piece as delinea
changes in tempo and dynamics. In the first and third sections, some p
repeated before all twelve have sounded, the twelfth pc signifying the end
first section and, in the latter case, the beginning of the fourth.6 The seco
fourth sections contain no such repetitions; once the twelve pcs have sound
each case, the section is over.
Example 3 illustrates the four twelve-note orderings, the first and th
which are indicative of the registrally specific pitches in the piece; the seco
fourth, however, are pc representatives, compressed into one octave to
the stepwise disposition of their content.7 As can be seen from this mo
representation, the first two orderings unfold a wedge-like pattern rev
stepwise continuities in an ascending and descending direction concurre
The final two orderings, on the other hand, are descending stepwise scal
terns. Two types of stepwise continuity are thus employed in this piece; th
cept of directedness as it pertains to these orderings, particularly in conne
with the early established primary D4, however, has yet to be explained.

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I -8 (bF[F) tI
(mm. 1-8) .
(mm. 8-9)
III
(mm. 9-12)
(mm. 12-13)
EXAMPLE 3: PIECE NO. 5, TWELVE-NOTE PATTERNS

OF PITCH-CLASS UNFOLDING
As noted earlier, the pitch D4-having been "encircled" by the

of the fourth piece-is reiterated in four-part unison in the ope
the fifth, thus establishing its role as the referential pitch. The e
pattern of pc unfolding which follows represents a motion aw
center. Although the final formal section (as defined by tempo
begins with Eb3-the twelfth member of the third pattern-the f
ordering actually begins with the pc D (specifically D6); the desce
pattern which follows has Eb4 as its final pitch. Given the open
D4 and the departure from D6 in the fourth pc pattern, the
descent is perhaps best understood as motion toward D4 (i.e., th
cific pitch center of the piece)-a goal not quite attained. Althou
completes the twelve-note aggregate, the piece remains cont
ended as regards pc centricity, not unlike the fourth piece. And,
the latter, we may once again look to the next piece for pitch/
Having been approached from above in the final ordering of
(allowing for pc compression), the contextually anticipated D
from below in the opening of the sixth piece (where it occurs
higher than the registrally specific pitch center of the previous
four (unordered) pitches of number 6 are A#4, B4, C5, and C#5
the fifth pitch is D5 and is, appropriately enough, the first note

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featured instrument in the soloistic sixth piece. D5, representing pc closure with
respect to the fifth piece, is thus emphasized through timbral, articulative, and
dynamic exposure.8
No. 5 No. 6
m. 13 mm. 1 2
registrally,.
specific .. u-_
pitches i (oboe
I entry)
classes.....
pi tch-
EXAMPLE 4: PITCH-CLASS CONNECTION BETWEEN PIECE NO. 5 AND P
Like the fifth piece, the ninth opens with a unison reiteration follo
wedge-like pattern of pc unfolding; here, however, the texture is one
three-voice canon. An overlap to the next piece plays an important rol
in the fifth piece, although in this instance it is not one of pc closure
tion of pc centricity. It is, rather, one of simple twelve-note comple
canon unfolds only nine of the twelve pcs. The ascending stratum of
unfolds the fourth Eb-Ab (see Example 5a), a detail to which we wil
the study of the tenth piece. As indicated in Example 5b, if the low
were extended, the three missing pcs occur. These three, as well as t
lower stratum of the ninth piece, are stated at the beginning of the ten
indicated on the bottom system of Example 5b. In this sense, the t
completes a twelve-note aggregate initiated in the ninth piece althou
gested above, the overlap does not fulfill a closural function in a pc ce
ion (as in the connection of pieces 5 and 6).
The tenth piece of the Quintet has certain similarities to other p

cussed earlier in this paper. For example, it resembles the fifth piece
pitch material is based to some extent on twelve-note pc unfolding in
and wedge-like patterns, although aggregate completion is less syst
applied here than in the earlier piece. Number 10 also has similari
fourth piece in that it features one particular instrument, the pitch d
of which is highly disjunct or multiregistral; here it is the bassoon wh
lighted in this fashion. One aspect of the angular bassoon part, to w
cipal attention will be focussed in this study of pc centricity and direct
concerns the fact that pitches in the uppermost register are arti

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L No. 9
extended lower stratum:
(b)
No. 10 mm. 1 2 3
F- ,
bassoon:
'I? , W-- .-L "'.,..
EXAMPLE 5: WEDGE-PATTERN OF PC UNFOLDING

AGGREGATE COMPLETION FROM NO. 9 T
exposed in such a way as to be perceived as con

stepwise continuity over a larger span (i.e., on a
we begin such a study of pitch relations, howeve
formal plan for the piece.
Two main sections may be discerned, separate
12 (please refer to the score). The a-section consi
comprises a disjunct segment (i.e., measures 1to 5
the second) followed by a conjunct segment. T
than the opening but may also be divided into tw
disjunct, the second comprised of a disjunct se
segment which concludes the piece. The two dis
arated by a conjunct segment as in the a-sectio
what I have termed a "phrase divider." This is s
in measure 14 which, like the conjunct segmen
much lower dynamic level than the disjunct se
main sections are also differentiated dynamically
the disjunct segments areffortissimo while the c
the b-section, the disjunct segments are fotissi
and final conjunct segment are pianissimo, givin
range.
Regarding pc centricity, as in the pieces examined thus far, we must first

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establish the most structural point(s) in the piece. Upon hearing num
(even for the first time), one is surely compelled to hear the D5 of bar 15
ultimate arrival point; it is the only time in the piece that all five instr
sound at once, with four of the five instruments sounding the emphati
we take this note as the pitch center, we may examine the piece from the s
see if the primacy of that pitch (or pc) is established earlier and, if so, ho
various occurrences are connected. If there are no such intermediate struct
arrivals on D, it remains to establish how the events leading to bar 15 re
and are contextually directed toward the important culmination point
measure.
In highly disjunct textures, such as the bassoon part in th

the registral extremities are most readily perceived as they
within which all activity occurs. And, in this piece we will b
pitches in the register closest to the anticipated goal, D5. With
may perceive the bassoon's Eb4 in measure 3 as an importan
only is it accented agogically relative to the pitches which p
stressed through a lack of registral preparation; i.e., there are
Eb4 which lie in a (registrally specific) stepwise relationship to
the case with B2 in measure 1 and A3 in measure 3, the regist
pitches occur are immediately superseded by higher ones. Th
by Eb4, however, is not relinquished in this manner; rath
uppermost one in which pitches, although non-contiguous,
be heard as connected, effecting a predominantly stepwise con
goal, D5. (The fast tempo of the piece is an important facto
connection of pitches which are not temporally adjacent.)
referred to are F#4 in bar 3 and G4, F4, and At4 in bar 5, A
point of the first phrase and the culmination point of the a
thus far in the piece (see Example 6).
The ascending fourth, Eb to A6, in the first phrase may be
textually directed to the D5 of bar 15; in this sense it is not m
but rather a "progression."9' Its progressive quality is a result o
to the inferred goal in both temporal distance (i.e., horizontal
distance (i.e., vertically). As a result of the inferred directedn
ascending fourth, we remain aware of the sudden breaking o
after the Ab of bar 5 and may expect, within the context of t
tion of the upper-voice linear progression at some later poin
first pitch in the uppermost register in the second phrase
unprepared registrally (i.e., within the second phrase) is, I fee
tuitous. The progression initiated in the opening phrase is t
second phrase and carried one semitone higher to A4 in bar
punctuated by pitches in three other instruments!). Exampl
pitch content of the first two phrases (the a-section) expre
terms for illustration of the stepwise and wedge-like patterns

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temporal ordering is maintained, apart from those with

cates the two have been reversed to facilitate inference of c
or "descending" motion. The top staff of the example in
pitches in the upper-voice progression and are here not
register.
(first phrase)
mm. I 3 4 5-6 (15)
upper-voice progression:
(a)
b c4'n fol d O, - ] ,
Sregistrall specific
conjunct segments:
Sopening
- register)
(second phrase) i. (return to
mm. 6 7 7-11 (15)
iai
CC
(registral preparation for continuation

of upper-voice structural progression)
EXAMPLE 6: PIECE NO. 10, MM. 1-11 (a-SECTION), SHOWING UPPER-VO

STRUCTURAL PROGRESSION AND PATTERNS OF PITCH-CLASS UNFOLDING
While the A4 of bar 7 is not the high point of the second phrase-the ensuin
rapid flourish extends up to E5-in a "structural" sense it is the highest. T
primary events thus far in the piece occur in the uppermost register of the d
junct sections marked forti'imo. The conjunct section of the first phrase, atpian
serves only to return to the opening register. In the second phrase, the conjun
section, also at piano, again occurs after the high point of the progression h
been articulated and thus serves a similarly non-structural role. It might be hea
as a type of "postcadential extension" (the previous arrival on A4 being p
ceived as a "half-cadence"), serving merely to "prepare" us registrally for t
anticipated continuation of the structural ascent in the second section of t
piece (see Example 6c). That the conjunct segment in measures 7-11 is not on
structural import seems substantiated by the fact that the E5 of bar 11 i

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approached in a highly tentative manner (note the diminuendo topianissim

decreasing level of rhythmic activity, and the esitando indication in the sco
Whereas the a-section is comprised of two clearly articulated phrases, the
of which contributes the opening fourth of the upper-voice progression an
second extending it by a semitone, the b-section is less clearly divided inte
As noted above, its texture is more continuous, facilitating a steady drive
ultimate arrival point, D5 of bar 15. As regards the fundamental progres
that point, the section opens with Ab4 and continues to encircle A4 (the hi
point of the progression reached in the opening section), the latter occurr
measures 13 and 15. Upon reaching the second A4 (measure 15), an imm
ascent leads to the goal. These two encirclements, the final approach to D
the patterns of pc unfolding are illustrated in Example 7.10 The unfolding
in the b-section is, as indicated in the example, less systematically organ
continuous linear patterns than the a-section. It is paradoxical, however
the pc stepwise fragments that are apparent are directed downward (as o
to the upper-voice structural ascent).
mm. 13 14
upper-voice progression:
(a)
PC --I --I--_
(b) ------
* = encirclements of A
(final structual
mm. 14 15 ascent) 16-21
(a)
(b ) -1-r
registrally specific conjunct segments:
(c)(A-
(recalls register of opening) f--'
EXAMPLE 7: PIECE NO. 10, MM. 13-END (b-sECTION), SHOWING UPPER-VOICE

STRUCTURAL PROGRESSION AND PATTERNS OF PITCH-CLASS UNFOLDING
In the initial readings of the piece we perceived the D5 in bar 15 as the

structural event in the piece and thus characterized it as the pitch cent
on closer inspection we observed how a large-scale stepwise progressio
the a and b-sections of the piece to arrive at that point. On a more funda

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level, the progression may be heard as two overlapping tr

Example 8a. The point of overlap involves the semitone A
the second phrase of the a-section as the extension of the ini
and in the b-section as the connection between the openin
ning of the final ascent in bar 15. At a still more backgroun
sion spans a major seventh E?4-D5. In pc terms, the overal
thought of as a chromatic neighbour motion to D, the m
inverted and filled in as a major seventh (see Example 8b).
the representation of an underlying second as a surface se
technique used throughout the piece at the most foregro
unfolding ofpcs occurs in a stepwise fashion (which is freque
the surface as a disjunct succession of sevenths.
mm. 3 5/7 (7)

13 15 (15)
a-section:
b-section:
large-scale
b progression:
EXAMPLE 8: PIECE NO. 10, LARGE-SCALE STRUCTURE
Only the status of the final conjunct segment of the piece remains unspec-
ified. Given the emphatic arrival on D5 in bar 15-the structural cadence of the
piece-this final portion is perhaps best understood as a postcadential extension,
not unlike that which occurred at the end of the a-section (although the function
of this final segment is not one of registral preparation). The two main formal
sections of the piece are thus balanced, each concluding with a non-structural,
registrally compressed segment at a low dynamic level. The function of the final
CO is somewhat ambiguous: it could be a final expression of the pc CO which
occurred in the upper-voice progression, not in its "proper" place (between B
and D), but simultaneously with the final D5. Or, perhaps it serves to balance
the piece registrally: just as the extension at the end of the a-section fore-
shadowed the register of the structural goal, the final extension recalls the regis-
ter of the opening of the piece.

62.240.134.140 on Thu, 01 Dec 2022 11:05:59 UTC
The balance of this paper will be devoted to a detailed analysis of the

piece, one which features an "ensemble" texture (as distinct from the so
texture defined earlier). That is, the overall texture at any given time is the
posite of all instrumental parts, the shifts in these homogeneous textures
marking new formal sections. In the first piece, for instance, the score reve
extreme independence of parts interacting in a rhythmically complex m
which characterizes the opening section, measures 1-16, and the greater int
pendence or subgrouping of parts, generally less active in nature, whic
tinguishes the final section.
As regards structural points, the opening fifteen measures give us little t
on to, as the sonorities are in a constant state of flux. The emphatic unison
bars 16-19, while indeed compelling, grows into a more complex and i
sonority. The latter is ultimately superseded by the final soft and almost pe
dyad. The perceived effect is one of resolution into the latter (please refer
score). We may assume the primacy of the final C5-D5 dyad as both the
pc complex and the ultimate arrival point and proceed to substantiate this
acterization with a study of the events which precede it.
In the first twelve bars of the opening section, each instrumental part co
of a succession of linear pitch pairs separated by rests (please refer to the
Taking the alto flute in measures 2-4 as an example, the initial pitch of the
pair, B3, begins at pianissimo and is gradually increased dynamically. At or
the mezzo forte peak of the crescendo, A13, the second pitch of the pair, is
lated and is accompanied by a diminuendo back to pianisimo. At this point
rest occurs and the pattern is repeated. Although the peaks of dynamic
sification and corresponding pitch change in the five instruments occur in
tively close proximity, as for example in measures 3 to 4, they nevertheles
independently of one another. This results in a highly fluctuant harmonic
and complex polyphonic texture; it is in consideration of this textural ar
ment that extended linear continuities will be revealed.
The vertical sonorities in the section under discussion-that is, those ef
by each independent pitch change-span the range from D3 to C4. The h
pitches of successive verticalities, regardless of instrument, may be heard
nected, resulting in a derived top voice. The second highest pitches may be
larly connected to form a second voice, and so on. The five-voice linear str
which results is illustrated on system (b) of Example 9. The horizontal and
onal lines and arrows trace the various instrumental parts as their pitches
position in successive verticalities. (A Legend of symbols used is given as th
page of Example 9.)

62.240.134.140 on Thu, 01 Dec 2022 11:05:59 UTC
LEGEND
I.S.W.U.N. = incomplete semitone/whole-tone upper neigh
I.S.W.L.N. = incomplete semitone/whole-tone lower neigh
u.n. = upper neighbour
l.n. = lower neighbour

e.p. = embellishingpattern
[for system (b) specifically]:
(a) (b)
-same instrument
pitches separated b
-(c) (d) (e)
-same instrument; change of

pitches separated by a rest
-in (e), no pitch change, but
[for system (c) specifically]:
= corresponds to (a
I = corresponds to (b) and (d) above
= second pitch in a different instrument;

second pitch overlaps the first
EXAMPLE 9: PIECE NO. 1, OUTER-VOICE PROTRACTION, FIVE-VOICE

STRUCTURE, AND LATERAL VOICE-CROSSING PROGRESSIONS

62.240.134.140 on Thu, 01 Dec 2022 11:05:59 UTC
(a) outer-voice protraction:
(anticipation)
I .S.W.U.N.
(b) five-voice structure:

mm. 2 3 4 5 6 7
- ---mf mf mf mf
mf mf mf mf
(c) lat c-c

(c) lateral voice-
.49,A ..
7 2P
EXAMP

62.240.134.140 on Thu, 01 Dec 2022 11:05:59 UTC
8 9 10 11
m -
mf mf mf
m mf mfmf
mf mf mf mf
mf mf
isAp
wA

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1 12 13
'7 1f mf
iI NK
mf mf
w za .y
%L
mf
II I I
EXA

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[see system (a)i below]
l.i . [see system (a)i below]
11- __ _ft
summary of U.n. .n
a-section .n.
13 14 15 16 (b-section) 17 20 21 22
f(e-t 1. I(- --
(hrn..,,
(ct
I Isummary of ?
a-section b-section
p.t. 1.n.
EXAMPLE 9 (CONT.)

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As levels i and ii of system (a) indicate, D3 and C4 are established and

tained in the outer voices as pitch boundaries of this section through s
neighbour motion; lower neighbours only, in the case of C4, and upper
bours only, in the case ofD3. D3 and C4 thus define the textural space (o
ures 1-14) within which all linear activity occurs, particularly when th
extremities occur adjacent to each other as in measures 7, 9, and 11. These
referred to as primary occurrences while instances of C4 occurring alone ar
sidered secondary. The outer voices in particular are examples of one ty
extended linear continuity and may be considered hierarchically more imp
than the three derived inner voices for two reasons: the outer voices are th
readily perceived, and in this case the two pitches protracted in these v
apart from defining textural space in the a-section-have special signific
the overall pitch structure of the piece. Concerning the latter, even at thi
stage we can infer a pitch-class correlation between the opening minor s
defined by these outer pitch boundaries and the major-second dyad whic
cludes the piece. To establish the means by which we are directed from
the other, however, requires further inquiry.
The relatively narrow ambitus of the five voices in general and the outer
in particular, results in a somewhat static view of this section, save for th
instances of directed motion offered by the dynamically fluctuant pitch
More extended examples of directed motion may be discerned by invok
procedure I term "lateral voice crossing." The resulting linear continuit
another dimension to the protraction of D3 and C4-a dimension which
shown to be more "dynamic" than the outer-voice maintenance just desc
Lateral voice-crossing events are stepwise linearizations which traver
aforementioned five-voice structure, thereby connecting the two
extremities in a crosswise fashion as indicated on system (c) of Examp
Because the outer-voice protraction described above establishes D3 and
extremities, these pitches may be perceived as contextually anticipated g
the lateral voice-crossing events. In this sense the lateral progressions are c
tually directed within the a-section. The actual pitch connections which
these extended linear events may occur in a single instrument or from one
ment to another. When a single instrument is involved, the two pitches m
connected in a legato fashion or they may be separated by a brief rest.
connections are differentiated graphically according to the Legend given
beginning of Example 9.) When the connection involves two instrumen
two pitches of the connection werlap and in most cases the new pitch in
dynamically while the first pitch of the connection decreases; a "transf
energy," so to speak, occurs from one instrument to the other as a result
overlap.
As indicated on system (c) of Example 9, each occurrence ofD3 may be heard
as the arrival point (or goal) of an inferred lateral voice-crossing progression from
C4 and, in turn, as the departure point for an ascending lateral progression to

62.240.134.140 on Thu, 01 Dec 2022 11:05:59 UTC
C4. Each of the occurrences ofC4 may be heard as the arriva

lateral progression, except in measure 8. Also, those occur
to articulations ofD3-referred to earlier as primary points o
introduce lateral continuities to D3 as does the secondary
The secondary C4 of measure 8-i.e., the only one not app
progression-appropriately fails to initiate such an event.
These inferred lateral voice-crossing progressions, the
extended stepwise continuities which are truly dynamic i
maintenance of the pitch boundaries D3 and C4-dynamic in
involve contextually directed stepwise connections across
thereby linking one pitch boundary to the other. In this sen
complement the more static outer-voice protraction describ
pitch boundary was maintained independenty of the other t
bour motion.
However, while these inferred lateral events have been c
textually directed, it was asserted earlier that they occur on
measures of the opening section. The situation, in fact, ch
can be seen from the score: specifically, the pitch-pair segm
vidual instruments is abandoned and each instrumental
complex rhythmically. While the instruments continue th
cendo to mezzo forte and back, the individual lines contai
pitches instead of the two which comprised the earlier p
rhythmic intensification renders each instrumental part mo
ceived continuity.
The pitch boundaries D3 and C4 are, however, maintai
measures and C4 in particular is articulated at the dynamic
horn and bassoon in measures 13 and 14. Following this, r
tion continues but the density is reduced to three instrume
the reduced range from D3 to F3. This reduction in part-
space is accompanied by a steadypianissimo level and thus co
be heard as a brief transition into the b-section. It is significan
the upper boundary C4 in the two-bar transition is in par
tinued dynamic exposure of that pitch in the two precedin
Each of the two modes of pitch maintenance in the a-s
tinuation in a different way. For example, the neighbou
reveals a relatively static maintenance of the two pitch e
longer these pitch boundaries remain intact, the more a pen
so clearly defined by them seems inevitable. Also, as mentio
is protracted by its upper neighbour only, and the uppe
neighbour only; again, the "opposite" neighbour in e
expected. As regards lateral voice crossings, the very natu
traversal, connecting D3 to C4 and C4 to D3, suggests the
completion in each case.

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As we shall see, each of the aforementioned implications is realized in

section, but because pitches comprising the latter occur above C4, as indica
the end of system (b) in Example 9, linear continuity over the entire
involves consideration of pitch-class stepwise motion-i.e., stepwise con
tions between components in registrally displaced positions. In light of thi
dition, the unison 0t5 atforti~simo, which opens the final section in such a
matic way, is multi-functional in achieving large-scale linear continuity
example, as indicated at the end of system (a) on Example 9, it may be
preted as a pitch-class lower neighbour to D3, the lower pitch boundary of
section, the latter transferred up two octaves in the final dyad; and as a pitc
upper neighbour to C4, the upper pitch boundary of the a-section, the
transferred up one octave in the final dyad. These are the so-called "op
neighbours referred to earlier, and reflect, over a broader span, the rel
static (but now registrally displaced) neighbour motion around the
extremities of the a-section. In addition, Ct5 may be heard as a pitch-class
ing-tone with respect to the lateral voice-crossing events of the a-section a
cated at the end of system (c) of Example 9: e.g., D3 to C4, through C#5
of the final dyad, and C4 to D3 through D65 to C5 of the final dyad.
connections represent more dynamic and directed large-scale continuities c
tent with the lateral events themselves. The end result ofeither interpretation
inversion and register shift of the protracted pitch extremities of the a-section. T
macy of the collection comprised of pcs C and D is thus substantiated
affiliation of the closing dyad with the opening is further reinforced by its r
to the original tempo and dynamics, and the accompanyingquasieco indicat
the score.
Before leaving this discussion of the first piece, one additional aspect of
continuity is worth noting. It concerns connection to the third piece,
which is closely related texturally, dynamically, and proportionally.12 As s
(b) in Example 10 shows, the penultimate sonority of the first piece contr
the final dyad and that dyad, in turn, may be heard to expand to the o
sonority of the third piece. Notice that the two expanded sonorities ha
Ct5, and D#5 in common. In addition to this, the fifth, E3 to B3, which f
the opening sonority of the first piece, is linearized in the form of an asc
trill at the end of the third piece. The registral arch formed by the juxtapo
of these two pieces is indicated on the bottom system of Example 10.

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Nc. 1 No. 3
mm. 1-14 15-16 16-22 22-24 1-9 9-12 12-end
senza
(a) diminuend(
attacca ) _
(b)
Is I
EXAMPLE 10: ELEMENTS OF CONNECTION BETWEEN

THE FIRST AND THIRD PIECES
In the foregoing study we have examined a variety of ways in whic

tricity of a particular pc or pc complex is established, approached
tually directed manner, and prolonged. The ways in which various
of stepwise motion-in a single octave or spread over several-effect
mentioned directed approaches and prolongations have been of pri
cern. It was determined that stepwise connections in bilinear instrum
(numbers 4 and 10), and twelve-note patterns ofpitch-class unfolding
and to some extent 10) effected directed linear continuities toward
structural goals. Overlapping of pieces was found to provide twelve
gate completion in one instance (numbers 9-10) and pc closure in ot
bers 4-5 and 5-6). In the opening section of the first piece, outer-v
tion and lateral voice crossing were found to be of significa
establishment and prolongation of the primary pc complex, while t
tion was seen to rely on stepwise connections across several registers f
scale prolongation of that collection across the entire piece.

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NOTES
1. It is precisely through the "predictability" of such functional harmon

gressions in nineteenth-century music that a particular key area is inf
without explicit statement of the tonic.
2. During the course of this paper several references are made to th

(Mainz: B. Schott's S6hne, 1969), which should be available to the re
3. Registrally specific pitches will be designated according to the foll

octave distribution:
88
C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7
4. Whenever the terms ascending or descending are enclosed in quo

marks it denotes pc motion in which the direction of registral separa
opposite to that of the pc motion. For example, in the "ascendin
succession D5 to D04, D5 ascends to D#4 in pc terms but descends
in registral terms.
5. By measure 17 the flute part takes on a single-line structure thus allo

clarinet to contribute to the cadence intervals (measures 17 and 19). A
pattern may be noted at the end of the first phrase where the bilinea
ture of the clarinet part contracts in a wedge-like fashion, allowing t
soon to contribute the second stream of activity and, ultimately, the
pitch of the cadence (in the lower registral plane).
6. That is, the third section contains only eleven pcs; the formal struct
twelve-note pc patterns overlap at this point.
7. While these may be more problematic as stepwise events, their pc

structure nevertheless remains significant within the context of
musical language.
8. That is, the oboe's timbre is much more penetrating than that of t
instruments, the oboe part has articulative instructions different f
associates (refer to the score), and its pitches are attacked sfp as comp
sfpp in the other instruments. It is also significant that D5, articulate
beginning of the sixth piece, not only provides pc closure for the fift
but also represents the pc center of the sixth as the latter ends on D3
clarinet.

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9. This fourth progression, Eb-A1, is the same span as th

the wedge-pattern of pc unfolding in the ninth piece,
While number 9 occurs in the highest part of the instru
upper-voice progression in number 10, initiated by the
fourth progression, occurs in a like fashion in the upperm
bassoon's range.
10. The C05 of bar 13 is indicated in parentheses because it

emphatically as the others in this register (rather than bein
a >, it occurs under a slur). C05 is, however, functionally
"leading-tone" to D5; its appearance here may be said to of
C05 does not appear immediately prior to D5 in bar 15 b
horn with the bassoon's D5. In terms of pc successions, h
lower and upper leading-tones to D (i.e., Cl and Eb) are h
prior to D5 in the bassoon (see Example 7b).
11. Here, the collection of pcs C and D is primary regardles

which the pcs are expressed. Recall that in number 4 the
and D was also central but differentiation was made betwe
expression of the dyad as a seventh (primary) and a secon
12. That is, both numbers 1 and 3 are "ensemble" piec

pianissimo to mezzo forte. As regards proportion, both t
pieces are formally partitioned according to the golden sec
one hundred beats long, the golden section of which is
emphatic Ct in octaves enters during beat 63. Number 3
long, the octave-doubled theme entering on beat 39-the
sixty-four. On a larger scale, the first and third pieces, ta
rupted continuity, are themselves in a golden-section
twenty-five measure first piece is the golden section of th
bars of both pieces.

62.240.134.14ffff:ffff:ffff on Thu, 01 Jan 1976 12:34:56 UTC

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Stepwise Continuity as a Structural Determinant in György Ligeti's Ten Pieces for

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/832766

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TEN PECES FOR WIND QUINTET-*

T HE TERM "CENTRIc" is often used to characterize music which, although

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points harmonically, we are often aware of tonal destinations before arrival

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alluded to above, be comprised of pitch events which are sy

We will begin with the fourth piece, which may be charact

Keeping in mind the first cadence point in bars 8-9 as a

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FL. i----"- votal C)

CLAR. R L -F "r i - r rIF 1 1iii ,r i i i I, it, -F9 I., I .i1

( inC) T, i/I ' , _ _ s -

FL. ' I 1, IJ FrII-

r-= r--1 ,F=R(caden

EXAMPLE 1: PIECE NO. 4, MM. 1-8, SHOW

clarinet and bassoon, the arrival points on D4 and C4 in those instr

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activity in the upper plane-links up registrally to that same pitch in bar

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EXAMPLE 3: PIECE NO. 5, TWELVE-NOTE PATTERNS

As noted earlier, the pitch D4-having been "encircled" by the

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EXAMPLE 4: PITCH-CLASS CONNECTION BETWEEN PIECE NO. 5 AND P

The tenth piece of the Quintet has certain similarities to other p

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'I? , W-- .-L "'.,..

EXAMPLE 5: WEDGE-PATTERN OF PC UNFOLDING

exposed in such a way as to be perceived as con

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In highly disjunct textures, such as the bassoon part in th

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temporal ordering is maintained, apart from those with

(registral preparation for continuation

EXAMPLE 6: PIECE NO. 10, MM. 1-11 (a-SECTION), SHOWING UPPER-VO

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approached in a highly tentative manner (note the diminuendo topianissim

(recalls register of opening) f--'

EXAMPLE 7: PIECE NO. 10, MM. 13-END (b-sECTION), SHOWING UPPER-VOICE

In the initial readings of the piece we perceived the D5 in bar 15 as the

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level, the progression may be heard as two overlapping tr

mm. 3 5/7 (7)

EXAMPLE 8: PIECE NO. 10, LARGE-SCALE STRUCTURE

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The balance of this paper will be devoted to a detailed analysis of the

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I.S.W.U.N. = incomplete semitone/whole-tone upper neigh

I.S.W.L.N. = incomplete semitone/whole-tone lower neigh

u.n. = upper neighbour

l.n. = lower neighbour

[for system (b) specifically]:

-(c) (d) (e)

-same instrument; change of

[for system (c) specifically]:

I = corresponds to (b) and (d) above

= second pitch in a different instrument;

EXAMPLE 9: PIECE NO. 1, OUTER-VOICE PROTRACTION, FIVE-VOICE

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(a) outer-voice protraction:

(b) five-voice structure: