I have just finished reading the above new book on Ligeti ed. by Louise Duchesneau (Ligeti's assistant) and Wolfgang Marx published by Boydell Press (my first copy fell apart). It is based on papers from a conference held in Dublin in 2007 but is now much expanded. There is some really excellent material here for Ligeti scholars, particularly the chapters on analysing the sketches by Jonathan Bernard and Richard Steinitz which give insights into how Ligeti wrote his music. Bernard usefully provides categories for the various sketch-types at the Sacher Foundation, and the colour plates of the sketches are amazing - especially those of Atmospheres and San Francisco Polyphony which are vividly graphic and quite colourful.
The chapters by Ligeti's composition students, Manfred Stahnke and Wolfgang Schultz are also very revealing about how Ligeti taught his students and his relationships with them. Stahnke says that Ligeti was both "extremely exciting...[and] also vicious and unfair not only towards other, well-known composers, but towards his own students as well." (p. 223) Clearly this was quite an idiosyncratic approach to teaching which would not be tolerated today, although it seems that his students went back for more. Stahnke also states that "Ligeti was not a real teacher. Or rather, that he was a 'transposed' teacher, one who had long ago left behind the traditional 'keys' of teaching and now strived to discover new territory." (p. 225) It is clear that Ligeti approached his teaching in a similar fashion to his composition- that there are no easy answers and that every position had to be challenged. Stahnke also said that later on "I once told [Ligeti] that he was like a vampire who bled us dry of all our ideas. A slight giggle to himself was his only reaction." (p. 227) To a certain extent all composers who teach gain from their own students, but of course students will also gain from their teachers - although they may not be aware of the extent to which they have benefited.
The chapters by Ligeti's composition students, Manfred Stahnke and Wolfgang Schultz are also very revealing about how Ligeti taught his students and his relationships with them. Stahnke says that Ligeti was both "extremely exciting...[and] also vicious and unfair not only towards other, well-known composers, but towards his own students as well." (p. 223) Clearly this was quite an idiosyncratic approach to teaching which would not be tolerated today, although it seems that his students went back for more. Stahnke also states that "Ligeti was not a real teacher. Or rather, that he was a 'transposed' teacher, one who had long ago left behind the traditional 'keys' of teaching and now strived to discover new territory." (p. 225) It is clear that Ligeti approached his teaching in a similar fashion to his composition- that there are no easy answers and that every position had to be challenged. Stahnke also said that later on "I once told [Ligeti] that he was like a vampire who bled us dry of all our ideas. A slight giggle to himself was his only reaction." (p. 227) To a certain extent all composers who teach gain from their own students, but of course students will also gain from their teachers - although they may not be aware of the extent to which they have benefited.
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