Dual Atmosphères

I found this article which I wrote as a note on my Facebook page on Thursday, September 25, 2008.  I thought that I would share it here. I have made some minor edits to the original note.

It's interesting. Tonight I sat down to listen to Ligeti's Atmosphères. I looked in my collection and found that I own three different recordings of this piece. Wiener Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado, conductor. New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, conductor. Berliner Philharmoniker, Jonathan Nott, conductor.  Atmosphères is a nine-minute piece for orchestra. This piece is based on a series of tone clusters that transform over time. In this piece Ligeti abandoned the traditional conventions of melody, rhythm and harmonic progression. Instead progression is made through the use of micropolyphony, which is complex interwoven textures.

I started off by listening to the Abbado recording. As I was listening, I read the liner notes for the Bernstein recording. I was shocked to find that it was a short recording. The length of this recording is 6:59, at least two minutes shorter than the other recordings I have heard. So I listened the Bernstein's version of the piece. Not only is this recording short, but it feels rushed. This is odd to me because the piece is composed as a static piece. There is no rhythmic or melodic motif. How can a piece composed around the principle of stasis feel rushed?

I wonder if Ligeti ever heard Bernstein's recording? If so, what did he think of it? Personally, I do not like this recording. It feels wrong. I do not think he captured the essence and the intent of Ligeti's piece.