Chopin, Pygmies, and Tempo Fugue

Abstract

One of the goals of Gyorgy Ligeti’s ongoing series of piano etudes (fifteen at last count) is to produce exceedingly complex polyrhythms—or, as he says, “illusory rhythms”—with a single, human interpreter. Among the most striking is number six, “Automne a Varsovie” (1985), which combines disparate influences, including 19th-century piano music and sub-Saharan African polyrhythm, to produce an effect which Ligeti has called “tempo fugue.” To see how Ligeti’s fugue works, this article examines his various influences, then analyzes the piece itself.

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