The Resume

(May 28, 1923-June 12, 2006)
Born in Tarnaveni, Romania
Avant-garde composer
Works included ‘Apparitions’ (1959), ‘Atmospheres’ (1961), ‘Volumina’ (1962; revised 1966), ‘Requiem’ (1965), ‘Lux Aeterna’ (1966), ‘Le Grand Macabre’ (1978; revised 1997) and ‘Trio for Violin, Horn and Piano’ (1982)

Why he might be annoying:

He wrote a composition for 100 metronomes.
He called ‘Le Grande Macabre’ an ‘anti-opera.’
When his music was featured in ‘2001: A Space Odyssey,’ he complained about being featured on a soundtrack alongside Johann Strauss and Richard Strauss.

Why he might not be annoying:

His father and brother died in concentration camps, while his mother survived Auschwitz.
After the Hungarian revolution was suppressed by the Soviet Army, he and his wife fled to Vienna by hiding on a mail train (1956).
He complained (with considerably more justification) that Stanley Kubrick had not asked his permission before using his compositions in ‘2001.’
Apparently, the two patched up their differences, as not only did Ligeti’s works appear in several additional Kubrick films, he escorted Kubrick’s widow to the premier of ‘Eyes Wide Shut.’

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 63]
• Exiles
• Hungary for a Bagel [Hungarian Jews]
• I am Hungarian
• I Died in 2006 (Ranked: 83)
• I was Cremated
• I'm Buried at Zentralfriedhof [Central Cemetary] in Vienna, Austria
• My Parent Was Murdered
• My Sibling was Murdered
• Opera Singers and Composers
• Profiles 38251-38500 (Ranked: 38473)
• Stanley Kubrick Films

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 29 Votes: 48.28% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 12 Votes: 58.33% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying