Although I gave up composing with electronically generated sounds in 1959, my experiences at the studio were of decisive importance for my subsequent orchestral and vocal writing.
György Ligeti, 1991

After fleeing Hungary, György Ligeti worked from February 1957 for a good year in the studio for electronic music at the West German Radio in Cologne. It was a decisive time for him. It was there that he became acquainted with composers and works of the musical avant-garde, which both shocked him and inspired compositional ideas. He was fascinated by the technical possibilities of electronic composition, especially the ability to cut, recombine and superimpose previously recorded sounds. Ligeti realised only two electronic projects: in addition to Glissandi, he wrote Artikulation, a piece in which he used artificial means to create speech-like sounds. Another work, Pièce électronique No. 3, remained a plan on paper. Although he only worked out his visions for purely instrumental and vocal ensembles from 1959 onwards, Ligeti remained interested in technical innovations, and in the 1970s, he again became actively involved with computer music.