[Morimur]

György Ligeti - A true genius of the 20th century and one of my very favorites. Since I have no musical training I can't say whether or not he shares any significant stylistic similarities with Bartók, but I feel that their work does share some emotional / spiritual semblance: death, decay and of course, humour.

K. Stockhausen - Another modern (if flawed) titan. I am in awe of much of his œuvre but don't necessarily connect with it on a personal level. That being said, his influence on contemporary music is infinite.

Who do YOU prefer and WHY?

:guitar: :guitar: :guitar:

 

[Guest]

Tough one. Ligeti enjoys more popularity here, and seemed to write masterpiece after masterpiece. And then we have Stockhausen, who could generate 7 hours of music with a week of writing texts followed by a recording session or 29 hours of music with strict unifying ideas.

I voted for Stockhausen, but it's fairly close for me. But hey, Karlheinz will need help to balance out Gyorgy's popularity here.

 

[isorhythm]

Ligeti. Like you, I connect with his music emotionally far more than with Stockhausen's, so he's the clear winner.

 

[Cesare Impalatore]

I respect Stockhausen but he is at best an aquired taste, while Ligeti's music is, though no less difficult, very fascinating and engaging at first listen.

 

[Manxfeeder]

I should like Stockhausen for his spiritual views, but I prefer Ligeti. I've tried to get into Stockhausen, but he hasn't clicked yet.

 

[tdc]

Ligeti's best works I think are a little better than Stockhausen's best works, but there is a lot more variety in Stockhausen's oeuvre, and a little more "color". I admire Stockhausen's ambition and creative drive.

 

[Albert7]

I couldn't vote for both of them .

 

[Ukko]

If 'the music is the man' (did anyone actually say that?) Ligeti was 'my kinda guy'. I have not forgiven Stockhausen for that chopper.

 

[Morimur]

I sometimes wonder if Stockhausen became over-reliant on technology as he aged. Sizable portions of the Licht cycle sound as if he was far more interested in playing with his synthesizers than he was with actual composing.

 

[MoonlightSonata]

They would be equal were it not for the Reqiuem.

 

[Guest]

They would be equal were it not for the Reqiuem.

Definitely one of my favorites between the two composers, yes. But speaking of the Requiem, I did wonder if those who feel nothing from Stockhausen's music were hearing works like Luzifers Abschied...

 

[Guest]

I sometimes wonder if Stockhausen became over-reliant on technology as he aged. Sizable portions of the Licht cycle sound as if he was far more interested in playing with his synthesizers than he was with actual composing.

Given his liking for intuitive discovery, this might actually be partially true :lol:

 

[Weston]

I like them both, but I am less familiar with Stockhausen, having only recently acquired Kontra-Punkte / Ensemble Recherche (2010) on Wergo. It's an album of very moving works, but I agree with Morimur and MoonlightSonata. For me it cannot compare to the Requiem, and to that I would add Clocks and Clouds, Lux Aeterna, Lontano and the Ligeti Violin Concerto.

On a side note I am still astonished you pronounce Ligeti's given name as we in the US pronounce "George." That's pretty prosaic for someone so imaginative.

 

[Celloman]

I voted for Ligeti.

That being said, I think that both composers have their strong points. Ligeti, however, appeals to me because of his brilliant use of polyphony and tone color to create structure. Some of his works, such as Atmospheres, are soft and "impressionistic" - to use the term. Other works are more "pointillistic" in character. Ligeti's music greatly varies in shape and color, yet he always has a strong sense of energy and beauty and always manages to find the right balance between the two.

I find his violin concerto fascinating and brilliant. The Requiem is certainly powerful and gripping. Stockhausen's electronic music, in particular, I find interesting, but I haven't gotten around to exploring much of his other work.

 

[TradeMark]

Ligeti is one of my favorite composers.

There some things I like by Stockhausen. I like gruppen, kontakte and especially gesang der jünglinge. I don't really like his long electronic and vocal pieces very much. I feel like gesang der jünglinge said all that needed to be said and the longer pieces said more of the same.

I will say that Stockhausen seems like a very ambitious composer, a bit like a Wagner of his time.

 

[brotagonist]

I voted Ligeti.

While I discovered both composers at almost exactly the same time (the same evening, even, since a friend had both the soundtrack for 2001: A Space Odyssey and Opus 1970: Stockhoven Beethausen), it was Stockhausen who captured me by far the strongest (but certainly not to the exclusion of the other) for many years. It was only as I got into my 30s, that my attraction to the bizarreness of Stockhausen waned and my love of Ligeti's works increased. Today, Ligeti is a major figure in my hearem, while Stockhausen is represented by his (slightly) tamer works (partly due to the unavailability of his many old DG albums, it should be noted).

 

[Morimur]

Well, looks like ol' Stockie is no match for Mr. Requiem.

 

[Oscarf]

Never really connected with Stockhausen... Ligeti´s music might not be easier but for me has always been much easier to relate to

 

[ArtMusic]

I voted Ligeti, who wrote works that were more accessible and less experimental than Stockhausen. I would also expect Ligeti to take a significant lead.

 

[Chronochromie]

I voted Ligeti, who wrote works that were more accessible and less experimental than Stockhausen. I would also expect Ligeti to take a significant lead.

I don't think of Ligeti as less experimental than Stockhausen, he just experimented differently. Though I agree that he is more "accessible".