Some of you may remember my article on Hilding Rosenberg's sixth Improvisation, and that piece is a mere taste of the work of one of the most inspiring Scandinavian composers of the 20th century. Some of you may also remember Poland's border on the Baltic Sea, and so it's natural that the good stuff from Sweden would float over to Warsawian shores. In 1982 the incomparable György Ligeti met Rosenberg and composed a violin & cello duet in his honor, and when the big publishers bother to publish your leaf there's a chance it's pretty boss.
A hyllning is a tribute, and the parenthetical description alludes to the soundworld of Bartók, inarguably the most influential Hungarian composer of all time and pioneer of classical fauxlk music. All the germ material is set up in the first line, a snakily modal melody in the cello accompanied by doubly-stopped fifths in the violin. After that it's just a matter of variations, and each twist of the pen proves more inventive and beautiful than the last. The lines are steadily reduced with each repetition, letting the gradual crescendo cathart like crazy once bar 13 comes around. The last line ramps the quarter notes, giving the impression of acceleration downward, with lots of insistence pushing the instruments to the final four chords. Ligeti was a man of seemingly endless range, and while he had previously taken audiences to the borderlands of luscious noise he shows a true mastery of good ol' polytonality here. As tricky as the double-stops may seem they sound whomping fantastic, especially the last couple of bars with their kneading minor seconds. I'm not sure who did the recording below but I have a feeling it's the phenomenal Arditti Quartet, modern music's BFF and my vote for Most Unflappable Chamber Group. I've never seen a Swedish-Polish combo restaurant, but I'd never have guessed that their food would taste so sweet.
(Nice picture, rauthku.)
~PNK
