György Ligeti quotes

Stravinsky used Mother Goose. He was influenced by Mother Goose, indirectly, but very beautifully. (György Ligeti)
I listen to all kinds of music - new music, old music, music of my colleagues, everything. View quote
György Ligeti
But if you go from Moscow to Budapest you think you are in Paris. View quote
György Ligeti
Now there is no taboo; everything is allowed. But one cannot simply go back to tonality, it's not the way. We must find a way of neither going back nor continuing the avant-garde. I am in a prison: one wall is the avant-garde, the other wall is the past, and I want to escape. View quote
György Ligeti
Yes, fractals are what I want to find in my music. View quote
György Ligeti
I only want to give a metaphysic for my music. View quote
György Ligeti
First of all I listen to music. I like music. View quote
György Ligeti
I know already the music I will write. But the words? I have not yet decided. View quote
György Ligeti
Then, after the war it was impossible to travel, after so many years of Hitler and Stalin. View quote
György Ligeti
I write bars, for the musicians, because they have to be together. View quote
György Ligeti
Perhaps the better word is emotional yes, I am an emotional man. (György Ligeti)
I don't use old music. View quote
György Ligeti
But I do not want to use Hungarian verses for British people. View quote
György Ligeti
In my piano concerto I developed this polyphony to much higher complexity. View quote
György Ligeti
My grandfather was not a musician but he was an artist - a painter, a decorative painter. View quote
György Ligeti
People often thought Leopold Auer was Russian because he lived in St. Petersburg so long, almost fifty years. View quote
György Ligeti
There is a wonderful Hungarian literature, especially in lyric poetry. View quote
György Ligeti
I lived under the Nazis and under the Communists. View quote
György Ligeti
For the past ten years I have had no financial problems. View quote
György Ligeti
In January 1944 I was called up by the Forced Labor Service, but I deserted on October 10, 1944. View quote
György Ligeti
I like to stay home and listen to recordings. (György Ligeti)
I don't read such boring things. Life is too short. View quote
György Ligeti
When I was younger I was completely without money - when I was studying in Budapest, when I was a refugee. View quote
György Ligeti
Once, in London, the BBC asked me what was my favorite English book. I said Alice in Wonderland. View quote
György Ligeti
New York is the dream world, the center of jazz and rock. View quote
György Ligeti