description Lux Aeterna (Ligeti) Overview
Lux Aeterna is an unaccompanied choral work composed by György Ligeti in 1966 for a mixed choir divided into 16 independent vocal parts. It sets the Latin communion text from the Requiem Mass and uses micropolyphony, in which closely interwoven lines create slowly changing fields of sound rather than a clearly foregrounded melody. The work became widely known through its use in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.
help Lux Aeterna (Ligeti) FAQ
Why does Lux Aeterna sound like a cloud instead of a conventional choir?
Ligeti divides the mixed choir into 16 independent parts whose lines enter at different times and move closely around one another. This micropolyphonic writing blurs individual melodies into slowly changing masses of harmony.
Are there any instruments in Ligeti's Lux Aeterna?
No, the 1966 work is written for unaccompanied mixed choir. Its sustained sonorities and gradual changes are produced entirely by voices rather than orchestral color.
Where is Lux Aeterna heard in 2001: A Space Odyssey?
Stanley Kubrick used Ligeti's choral music in the film's mysterious encounters with the monolith and the vast unknown. The 1968 film brought Lux Aeterna and other Ligeti works to an audience far beyond contemporary concert music.
What words are the singers performing?
The text comes from the Latin communion for the dead and begins with a prayer for eternal light. Ligeti stretches and overlaps the syllables so extensively that listeners often perceive vocal color before they recognize individual words.
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