Volumina-orgen Works: Susteck

Although Gyorgy Ligeti composed only three works for the organ, these pieces mark significant stages in the course of his compositional development. More importantly, they revolutionized the world of organ music and provided the initial spark for an entire wave of new music for the organ. Volumina completely dispenses with the parameters normally used to structure time in a musical work, such as melody, rhythm, and harmony. The only active structural parameter in this music is tone color. Harmonies unfolds as an unbroken chain of ten-note chords; only one note is changed from one chord to the next. Coulee is a chain of extremely fast notes that describe a slow harmonic progression. Also included are organist Dominik Sustek's organ transcription of Ligeti's eleven-movement piano cycle Musica ricercata as well as Sprachsignale - one of Sustek's own original compositions that was inspired by Ligeti's Articulation.