Atmosphères by György Ligeti

When Atmosphères premiered at the Donaueschingen Festival on October 22, 1961, it didn't just debut a new piece of music; it introduced a new way of hearing. Conducted by Ernest Bour with the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra, this performance captured the exact moment the avant-garde shifted away from the rigid structures of serialism toward the "micropolyphony" that would define Ligeti’s breakthrough as a composer of the first rank.

Atmosphères is famous for its lack of traditional melody, harmony, and rhythm. Instead, Ligeti creates a dense, shifting "sonic cloud" where 87 instrumentalists play unique parts that blur together. Micropolyphony: The textures are so densely woven that individual lines become invisible, resulting in a giant, breathing mass of sound.

This release restores the original 1961 tapes to their fullest dynamic range, with much of the original spatial depth brought to the fore.

"In Atmosphères, I sought to replace the 'objects' of music with a state of being."
György Ligeti

OTRJ 研究所 is a research center dedicated to the study, preservation and dissemination of the foundational works of 20th century contemporary and conceptual art music. An accompanying series of critically restored recordings will be released from 2020 onwards.