Untersuchung des Begriffes „Klangfläche“

With the present systematics and theory of sound surfaces and the analysis of Györgi Ligeti's orchestral piece Atmosphères, a key work of post-serial music, I would like to contribute to a more precise understanding of the compositional phenomenon of sound surfaces, which entered compositional practice around 1960. This phenomenon can still be found in music today - even after it faded away in the late 1980s - as a method of construction or structural type. In the first part, I described the structure of sound surfaces and explained the reasons that lead to the coherence and unity of each sound surface. In a nutshell, these reasons are the homogeneity of the building blocks and the uniform combination of these to form the global level of each surface. This theory claims to be valid and applicable far beyond a single composition such as Atmosphères. In the subsequent analysis of Atmosphères, I drew on my theory and at the same time verified and illustrated it. The work consists of sound surfaces that are consistently constructed according to clear, rational and generally applicable - i.e. transferable - structural principles. Tom Sora

"I read Tom Sora's excellent work with great pleasure! It is the most profound analysis of Atmosphères under these aspects that I have ever read." György Ligeti

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