 | This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (June 2017) |
| Lux Aeterna | |
|---|---|
| Choral music by György Ligeti | |
&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Ligeti_Lux_aeterna_Edition_Peters_cover.jpg) 2002 sheet music cover | |
| English | Eternal Light |
| Text | Lux aeterna |
| Language | Latin |
| Composed | 1966 |
| Scoring | 16-part mixed choir |
Lux Aeterna is a piece for a 16-part mixed choir, written by György Ligeti in 1966. It is most famous for its use in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, and its 1984 sequel, Peter Hyams' 2010: The Year We Make Contact.
The text (in Latin) is from the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass: Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine, cum sanctis tuis in aeternum, quia pius es. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine; et lux perpetua luceat eis, which means "May everlasting light shine upon them, O Lord, with thy saints in eternity, for thou art merciful. Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and may everlasting light shine upon them."
The piece features many of Ligeti's characteristic styles, including:
- Micropolyphony, which Ligeti describes as "The complex polyphony of the individual parts[,] embodied in a harmonic-musical flow in which the harmonies do not change suddenly, but merge into one another; one clearly discernible interval combination is gradually blurred, and from this cloudiness it is possible to discern a new interval combination taking shape."
- Cluster chords, where every note within a given interval is sung simultaneously
- A focus on timbre rather than melody, harmony, or rhythm