How 2001 Uses György Ligeti's Music

[@AlanCanon2222]

I had the privilege of meeting György Ligeti when I was a young string bass player of about 17. He came to the University of Louisville to accept the Grawemeyer Award for composition. In the program notes he mentioned his love of Lewis Carroll and the works of Douglas R. Hofstadter and Benoit Mandelbrot. I approached him after the concert in his honor (Atmospheres was performed, along with the piece he'd won the prize for) and told him that I'd made myself listen to his music on the 2001 soundtrack as a child, long before I got to see the movie, and that his music fascinated and terrified me. Herr Ligeti kept nodding. I finished by saying, "There is Godel, Escher, and Bach, and then there is Hofstadter, Mandelbrot, and Ligeti." György Ligeti took my young hand in both of his, beamed, and said, "Oh! It is a very kind compliment that you have paid me!" I think he left my hometown of Louisville stoked that at least one person at the concert "got" his music.

[@Rigpasword]

Wow, cool story, and what a privilege to have met the maestro in person. Your compliment to him was perfect and his response showed he knew that you got what his music is about. I feel privileged to know well the work of all the people you mention, from Herr Bach to Herr Ligeti - each one has been an important teacher in my life.

[@andygalligan4184]

I always took the black screen opening to *be* the monolith, presented first to the viewer as the interdimensional passageway of cinema. Excellent breakdown!

[@jonathanfinney7821]

Your comment itself is for me a revelation.

[@Parmetheus]

Now that's an interesting idea 💡

[@rajeshi4]

Wow that actually makes sense why there was black screen at the start! First time when I saw the film, I was so confused seeing that

[@vikashdenzil]

I'm on a binge watch session on your channel. Amazing stuff.

[@ListeningIn]

Thank you! Glad you’re enjoying them. Lots more to come.

[@oceanmachine1906]

Same

[@eXquisiteGaming110]

Currently doing the same, this channel is absolutely incredible!

[@netopir3804]

So do I. Started with Radiohead’s Bond theme. So much to discover: Thank you!

[@Tantacrul]

Great stuff! One thing I've always loved about the Stargate sequence is how the visuals progressively become more abstract over time, hitting a crescendo of 'abstractness' and then subsiding again: first we're looking at 'real' footage (of space and a closeup of Bowman's eye). Then the footage of Bowman becomes frozen and highly colour-treated. The footage of space is replaced with Douglas Trumbull's split-scan technique until there is nothing left that we could ever see in reality. I couldn't help but notice (because of this video) that the vocal effects end when the abstract visuals really kick off and are replaced with instrumental music. Then, as you say, when the sequence is over and we're back in a recognisable room, we're hearing voices again (albeit much stranger). All you can do is marvel at the amount of layers he's manipulating that end up complementing each other. His attention to detail was phenomenal.

[@ListeningIn]

Thank you! You really could do a whole video about the Stargate sequence. It's a very interesting point about the development of the abstract elements. But wow would you consider the footage of what looks like a landscape? Is that still further abstraction, as it's not completely clear what it's representing?

[@Tantacrul]

@@ListeningIn Yeah - I guess there are two ways of thinking about abstraction here. There's the ultimate meaning, which is pretty abstract and unknowable. But in terms of visual intensity, I think the penultimate sequence in the room is visually less abstract than the split scan technique (especially the moment with the 7 diamonds) mainly because it's made up of real/concrete things and exists in a space that at least obeys some rules... like gravity :) I suppose practicality comes into play here - it would have been nearly impossible to show Bowman getting old / witnessing his own death without real world props (like a room, bed etc.). I'd say they probably realised that they wouldn't be able to get that idea across if the whole thing look like a Kandinsky painting! However, if they simply jumped from the 7 mad looking diamonds to Bowman in a room, it would have been really jarring, so I think the landscape footage and the reintroduction of movement to Bowman (who is frozen up to that point) acts as a nice bridge to bring us back to more concrete visual material. Anyway, that aside, loved this video (and others)

[@ListeningIn]

That's a really good point. It would have been jarring without the landscape. And you're right that the level of visual abstraction going on is reduced as you go into the bedroom. But maybe the contrast was required in order to emphasise the complete dissolving of meaning in the final scenes? I agree that it wouldn't have worked as well if it looked like a Kandinsky (although it would have been awesome in its own way!).

[@Tantacrul]

@@ListeningIn I'd love to be able to quiz Kubrick about this. I wonder whether he tried some odd visual metaphors first (something like Bowman dissolving into a million particles) and then landed on the idea of the room later on. As you say - it's obviously completely out there in its own right. It looks like a normal enough place until you realise that time doesn't really exist and Bowman is able to witness his own death. I guess those concepts are much more jarring because they take place in a framework we understand. Knowing Kubrick, there were probably 75 completely different variations. I wish he'd return as a little baby man and help us clear this up.

[@HAL--gb6uf]

@@ListeningIn I always felt that when Kubrick shows landscapes and such, he is suggesting that we ultimately have to go to our origin. In the ending also you could see that the Starchild going back to the earth.

[@mikebasil4832]

Ligeti’s use of choirs for the intelligence and power behind the Monolith is timelessly brilliant. Thank you for your very thoughtful depiction of how all the music works so magnificently in 2001: A Space Odyssey. 👏🏻

[@Rigpasword]

Fantastic presentation of Ligeti's music in Kubrick's 2001 film... I saw 2001 in the early 70s and many more times since then - it remains in my top five films of all time. I've also come to love the music of Ligeti and have collected almost everything he's written/recorded. Kudos on this outstanding and informative video - expertly designed, edited, and narrated. Can't wait to see more of your channel.

[@pattyluss]

Seriously, your editing and contents impeccable! Keep up the great work! Thank you!

[@ListeningIn]

Thank you Patrick! Glad you're enjoying the videos.

[@LePaulLalonde]

The superposition of music score over film footage is brilliant

[@Rigpasword]

Yes, a huge addition to the narrative in my view as well.

[@michaelhall2709]

I always enjoy videos whose subject is much-beloved films where the author’s musicological knowledge is so much greater than my own. One thing I’ll add to your excellent essay: Ligeti actually successfully sued the production over Kubrick’s intentional distortion of “Adventures” to make the voices sound more “alien.”

[@rollexpv1701]

2001 is a beautiful piece of art. The first time I whatched it I almost fell into the trap of saying it was boring. But I decided to go along with it without skipping. But from the moment of the stargate scene I really got confused and my mind was full of emotion. And as he was in that hotel room it really made me feel alone in this universe, almost feel sadness and unjustice for Dave for some reason. I love the art of movie making and story telling and you are helping me descifre that. Thank you for putting your time into this because this was great. You need high sensibility to understand theese kind of things.

[@irIangeI]

Thank you for this! Amazing work, i'I've been obsessed with the film and the music for years now. The video is also so beautifully edited.

[@MarthaMooke]

Terrific resource! Showing this to my Contemporary Music class today as we study Ligeti and textural music. Thank you!

[@ListeningIn]

My pleasure! I'm really pleased it's being used in an educational context. Thank you for watching.

[@educostanzo]

I'm currently binging on Ligeti's music (yeah, I know) and I loved this, amazing breakdown. I think I'll have to watch 2001 AGAIN to focus only on the music.

[@callmev3531]

The uncertainty and anxiety evoked by the music and ambiguous plot elements additionally contrast to the majestic “Blue Danube” used to feature the procedural and casual nature of space travel in this futuristic era, the point of the film where characters seem most certain and comfortable. The story’s primary message revolves around advancement in terms of not only technology, but also civilization and biology itself, but also how unpredictable, chaotic and frightening the changes it brings can be.

[@josiahrogers1728]

Watching this movie was not only the first time I got genuinely scared in years, but I have never been scared by sound before, this film is made by music

[@neocleouscomposer]

As a huge Ligeti fan, I absolutely love this video. It's so wonderful to see someone talking about his compositional techniques, unpacking the music and explaining the effect of the choices he made. And the description you gave at the beginning of the overall "feel" of his music - it gave me goosebumps. Succinctly and effectively you put into words the complex emotions Ligeti's sound world creates. This is the first video of yours I've seen but I am already hooked and I really really look forward to seeing your channel grow :)

[@ListeningIn]

Thank you so much Thomas - the reason why I set up this channel is because I've always been a bit disappointed with how people talk about contemporary/new music (it always seems a little dumbed down), so I'm really pleased that you enjoy the detail I go into. I've got loads of videos planned as well and I can't wait to get them out into the world! I am also looking forward to seeing my channel grow (little by little!).

[@jeffwatkins352]

Your videos are remarkably wonderful, this one included. I don't mean to be a wet blanket, but...okay. 2001 is my favorite film of all time which I first saw within weeks of its initial release and which, at age 69, I've re-watched so many times, I've lost count. Well over 100. This is a point I've argued endlessly with the movie's fans, and I'm definitely in the minority, as your comments confirm. But I maintain the film's unseen aliens DO NOT direct human evolution. They simply observe it. As quantum mechanics teaches, even observing a phenomenon changes it. The best way to learn, however, is to keep that change to a minimum, which is exactly what the film's aliens do.

[@alanvd2891]

Beautiful work man, I have been watching your videos lately and I am speechless! Thank you for all the work that you are putting in and for sharing your talent! Please keep this videos coming!

[@ListeningIn]

Thank you so much Alan! What a lovely comment! I will definitely keep them coming.

[@smeaden8947]

Friend, you are a bloody genius! Superb content!

[@MartinDee2000]

Off-topic note: "The Monolith seems to be 'Controlling' human evolution." I always thought it was merely "Monitoring" human evolution.

[@moraga7370]

Just stumbled across your channel. Absolutely amazing.

[@ListeningIn]

Thank you! I’m really glad you stumbled across my channel!

[@silkyu3929]

I recently watched this movie and was enamored by its use of sound but couldn't tell you why until I found this. Same goes for my favorite movie Prisoner of Azkaban. Amazing content man, guess the youtube algorithm worked this time

[@williampatrick2971]

In the early 2000’s, after I watched every movie in the “Stanley Kubrick Collection” (which was from Lolita to Eyes Wide Shut), a friend of mine in L.A sent me burnt discs of all the soundtracks to those films after I had expressed to him how amazing the music was. The ones that I listened to the most involved Ligeti and Penderecki (2001, The Shining, and Eyes Wide Shut). Also, Wendy Carlos contributed greatly to Clockwork Orange and some to the Shining.

[@charliehill8068]

WHY HAS THIS GOT SO FEW VIEWS WTF

[@ListeningIn]

Ha.. I DON'T KNOW!! KZbin algorithm. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Ross2505x]

Can't believe I've only just found your channel! I'm loving your videos, really insightful stuff :)

[@bruns.like.spoons9251]

So, uh, why would anyone downvote this video? It boggles my mind.

[@rostasi]

Thanks for your interest in this and thanks for the Patterson link. Looking forward to checking out that essay. You may want to learn the proper pronunciation of both his forename and surname for the sake of accuracy tho. Very nice graphic work and enjoyable presentation. Thanks again!

[@alejandro52612]

Extremely informative. Love it!!!

[@ListeningIn]

Thank you - glad you liked it!

[@jackaguirre8576]

4:57 I wonder what creates that deep rumbling noise? Was it electronic synth at a really low frequency, or something acoustic?

[@mvjonsson]

Ligeti had to press charges against MGM to get royalty for the use of his music in 2001.

[@williampatrick2971]

Link?

[@JDazell]

Also - on a very simple aspect of it's use, (excluding Strauss) Kubrick was using radical music that was premiered across the past 8 years before the release of the film. So he's using forward thinking contemporary music to score a movie set in the future.

[@AttilaRieger]

This is truly amazing! Thanks for this video! I got here from the hip-hop song Ego from The Tribe Called Quest using the sampling of Ligeti’s music can be heard at Kubrick’s master piece.

[@diegoo.3403]

Very impressive and young channel. Do you do the animations as well? I don’t know about it but looks like a lot of work, I wouldn’t know where to start, I wonder how long would it take to learn. Congratulations

[@ListeningIn]

Thank you Diego! I do all of the animations as well. On Final Cut Pro X. Took me a very long time to work it all out! I'm really glad you are enjoying my videos.

[@lukeskywalker6809]

As a Hungarian I’m very grateful for your video.

[@MrBlastCorp]

Great content, love your videos!! Can you talk about ligeti's string quartet no 2?

[@ListeningIn]

Thank you! That's a really interesting idea. I've been thinking I'd like to analyse a chamber work, so this might well be the one!

[@GRIGA01]

Man this stuff is fantastic, great content. Please do one on the works of James Horner

[@danoptic]

Really insightful, thank you. Also, I had never heard Ligeti's name pronounced before, so I feel educated on that, as when I first heard "Gorecki" pronounced correctly. -- a new subscriber in California.

[@hamburgerhelpersalisburyst1507]

Fantastic editing!

[@havefunbesafe]

Ligeti is also in Eyes Wide Shut and Shining.

[@lukebingus9432]

Extremely insightful commentary into what makes Ligeti's music so effective in 2001. The Stargate sequence literally changed my life, it was basically a religious experience. Can't say ive really felt that with another film.

[@ListeningIn]

Thank you so much Luke. I'm really pleased you enjoyed my analysis. The Stargate sequence is astonishing and I'm still enormously effected by it, every time I watch it.

[@MustafaAli-lb8dq]

Stargate sequence is like LSD trip with horrific music that represents claustrophobia which was also used in Godzilla.

[@1LaOriental]

Well done, thank you!

[@eikochan9862]

I'm watching this because it's required for a classwork. And now I'm thinking your channel should have been my class instead.

[@noktambulamx7564]

beautiful analysis !!!!

[@ListeningIn]

Glad you think so!

[@ziggy_zagged]

Remember, he was a Hungarian genius!

[@eddievhfan1984]

Nice video! And regarding Aventures, it's worth noting two things as well: It was the only piece Ligeti didn't authorize for use in the film, and (possibly related to the former) Kubrick further increased the abstractness through liberal processing of the piece through an echo chamber. Also, when listening through the Stargate sequence, did you notice the whooshing and rumbling sounds underlining Atmosphères?

[@freddifish7636]

Stunning video!

[@jeffpicklo525]

Magnificent

[@ListeningIn]

Thank you!

[@danielshannon8831]

I love your videos. They're brilliant and I know nothing about music and cant play anything or sing.

[@brendonmurley8276]

Thank you so much for your work - it is magnificent.

[@ulfingvar1]

You forgot to mention that Kubrick distorted Avventures, without Ligeti's consent, who sued (successfully, by all accounts, and probably was given a hefty sum) but there didn't seem to be any bad blood, as Ligeti's music was used also in Eyes Wide Shut much later.

[@JeroenBaxexm]

nice one...you should do Spielbergs 'Close encounters...'

[@MediaLocaBooking]

It is sad to read that Kubrick never asked the composer György Ligeti for permission and did not pay any licenses. Neither for "2001" nor for "The Shining" and also not for "Eyes Wide Shut". His / MGM's message to the famous but hardly financially successful composer was that "he should be happy to have been included".

[@annak76]

brilliant, thank you!!

[@ListeningIn]

You're welcome!

[@petexander]

So glad I discovered this channel! You deserve a much larger audience. Amazing work 👍

[@ListeningIn]

Thank you so much Peter! I'm very glad you've found me as well!

[@nicolaslemaire4859]

Beautiful !

[@brucehunter4523]

The requiem is the most astonishing and beautiful piece I have ever heard.

[@alamdaali8776]

04:28 thank you.

[@ListeningIn]

My pleasure!

[@zoompt-lm5xw]

Excellent channel. Subscribed!

[@ListeningIn]

Welcome! I'm very glad you've subscribed!

[@pashaofstuttgart]

Very good!

[@rsmania01]

Thank you 💙

[@raulpardo4210]

Just read the book and you'll understand everything.

[@k.t.5405]

always thought it was Ligeti as in "lee-ghetty", not "lickety" as in "lickety -split"

[@haisenburguer_rooney]

Gracias ❤💯😢

[@parsa.mostaghim]

🎺🔥

[@clive3490]

Liggety?

[@kiereluurs1243]

'Yeah, who cares about pronunciation.' If one only knows English.

[@clive3490]

@@kiereluurs1243 if you are presenting yourself to the world through the medium of the spoken word, you could at least attempt to pronounce peoples names correctly

[@joe-nf8go]

U deserve a million subs

[@kiereluurs1243]

English please.

[@Herfinnur]

Dog gammit you’re good!

[@ListeningIn]

Thank you!

[@zurps]

Your visuals are very good and the things you say are super interesting, however I think this video would benefit from many more pauses. The info you give is super rapid fire and if you had more 5-10 second pauses between your sentences with the music playing in the background, it would be a masterpiece of a video.

[@aaronbuchta339]

The film was a masterpiece, but Ligeti never gave his permission for the use of his music in the film.

[@OolTube02]

He didn't? Was his music in the public domain?

[@segmentsAndCurves]

More reason to abolish copyright.

[@OolTube02]

It's pronounce "jurj." "Jurj LEE-getty." Like if "George" and "church" had a child.

[@Autostade67]

Forget Kubrick and Ligeti - who were they, anyway? This video is a thing of beauty...technical question: what software was used to create this...of only all presentations had this flair and aplomb.

[@kiereluurs1243]

Who are you anyway?

[@fleshanthos]

The beginning Overture represents deep time, that humans missed. The "Celestials" are the first species to reach trans"human" this Galaxy evolved. They would predate us by billions of years. That is what the music represents; their understanding of reality that we can but dimly perceive, much less grasp. The monolith is a tool; a Von Neuman Machine that encourages other species to become trans human. All the vocalizations at the end are Bowman's comprehension of their minds trying to talk to him. "It gives them a headache just trying to think down to our level".

[@kiereluurs1243]

Interesting overview and dissection. But this actually emphasises that 'Space Odyssey' was too pretentious and way over the heads of the audience. And frankly, boring to watch at some of the 'key' scenes.

[@Seaman1010]

Fantastic essay! However, you could haven taken about 2 minutes and checked how to pronounce György in Hungarian, because this 0:32 sounds absolutely catastrophic XD

[@artemlyubchenko3022]

It doesn’t have to be pronounced like in Hungarian, most people still pronounce “Bach” with a “k” sound, not like it’s pronounced in German.

[@howardchambers9679]

Read. The. Fookin. Book.

[@foleygee]

ligeti was first .. he had know idea of the film ..the director choose ligeti ..so stop your b. s.

[@mohammadbayazid5064]

This movie is just stupid