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Started with Hungarian folk music. After his flight to the West the contact with electronic music resulted in a new musical language, exploring the frontiers of tone and sound. His music is usually very hard on the performers too, demanding the maximum in technique and temperament. His oeuvre is not large but the uniqueness of his compositions makes him one of the leading composers of his time.

After World War II Ligeti lived in Budapest, where he finished conservatory. There he was teacher for harmony, counterpoint and analysis till the Hungarian uprising. After his flight to the west in 1956 he came into contact with Eimert, Stockhausen and Koenig in Köln. His 1960 composition Apparitions was a breakthrough for him in modern music. From 1959 untill 1969 Ligeti lived in Vienna, later in Berlin, and from 1973 onwards in Hamburg. In 1989 he stopped teaching at the conservatory there, to dedicate himself to composition.

Ligeti was interviewed by Richard Dufallo at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, November 1986. He admired Bartok when he was young, yet never met him. He lived with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Germany for 3 months as an apprentice — where Stockhausen arranged the first major performances of Ligeti’s works. His music "Atmospheres" is used in the film "2001 Space Odessy." (Contribution by <dbacamail.twu.edu>.)

• http://www.gyoergy-ligeti.de/
• http://d-sites.net/english/ligeti.htm