1 Why the app is called Poème Synthétique pour 100 Métronomes?
Ligeti's Poème Symphonique pour 100 métronomes is one of the first and most famous examples of conceptual music. However, for practical reasons real performances of the PoèmeSymphonique are very rare of course. Therefor we developed an online app that allows a wider public to get to know this compelling music and even to simulate a performance. The app Poème Synthétique pour 100 Métronomes is an accurate synthesized version, not a replacement of a real performance.
2 How to play the Poème Synthétique?
You can use the app on any smartphone or computer and experiment with the length of the piece just like in a real performance by winding the spring less or more with the plus or minus button under the spring icon.
You can add players by clicking on the plus button under the player icon. Each player gets his or her share of the metronomes. The players have to decide on a signal to start at the same moment.
You start the simulation with the green play button.
The sound is based on recordings of a real wooden Wittner metronome and is carefully mixed in a stereo panorama. This can be appreciated best using the app individually with ear buds or headphones.
Groups of players (with their smartphone on speaker) have a unique immersive experience.
3 What is the 'ideal' playing time of the Poème?
The default playing time for a performance with the app is about 5 minutes, which is to our experience the optimal length to 'get' the idea of the piece for instance in an educational context. The 'ideal performance' of the Poème lasts 1 hour and 25 minutes according to Ligeti during his speech after the premiere (triggering laughter among the audience). This premiere wasn't 'ideal' therefor because the metronomes were only partly wound up and the playing time was reduced to 10 minutes. Ligeti himself stopped the last metronome during the premiere.
In the following years Ligeti lead several performances that were all shorter than the 'ideal performance'. We don't know if Ligeti ever tested the 'ideal performance', but following the original instructions with modern Wittner metronomes it would take more than 2 hours and 30 minutes!
4 How controversial was the Poème in 1963?
The premiere of the Poème Symphonique pour 100 métronomes took place in the town hall of Hilversum in the Netherlands on 13 September 1963 as the piece was selected for the final concert of the Gaudeamus Music Week of that year. Gaudeamus, founded in 1945 by Walter Maas, was and still is the Dutch foundation that promotes contemporary music. That 13th of September the Poème was directed by Ligeti himself and performed by 10 musicians who Ligeti called his 'colleagues' because some of them were composers who also had participated in the Gaudeamus Music Week. After the performance that lasted exactly 10 minutes, Ligeti red the German score/instructions in an ironic way including all details about the shape of the metronomes, ways to get hold of 100 of those and all footnotes.
The performance was carefully filmed and recorded to be broadcasted on public television the next day, but that broadcast was cancelled, allegedly after protest of the town council of Hilversum. The film with the recording for the broadcast disappeared in the archives of the broadcasting company NTS for many years. Some press reviews of the performance weren't very positive, but appreciated the ironic nature of the Poème.
In the years after the premiere the protest of the 'bourgeois' audience against the Poème was exaggerated quite a bit, even alleging the concert ended in turmoil. However, in 2018 the film was rediscovered and became a very important document (Gaudeamus Archive).
It shows Ligeti directing a 'non-ideal performance' of exactly 10 minutes and an audience that was a bit noisy during the performance, politely applauding afterwards, understanding the ironic nature of Ligeti's speech, and laughing loudly when he said that the 'ideal Ausführung' lasts for 1 hour and 25 minutes. This audience expected contemporary music of all participating composers and wasn't protesting at all. There is also no official record of a decision of the town council of Hilversum to forbid the broadcast.
The decision not to broadcast the in total 24 minutes long film of the Poème was most likely taken by the national broadcasting company NTS, in an era the Netherlands had only one television channel with a limited prime time schedule with pure 'middle of the road' content.
5 How fits the Poème among Ligeti's work and in music history?
The Poème symphonique pour 100 métronomes is conceptual music without a score, based on a set of instructions. The choices Ligeti made for the Poème, are characteristic for all of his work. He revolutionized music from inside out, not introducing radio's, nuts and bolts or electronics like other composers did during the 60's, but used the 'musical' metronome as a musical instrument. Even in this piece, Ligeti doesn't distance himself from classical music. His radical innovations happen inside music and are therefor maybe even more striking and far reaching.
The Poème is one of the few works Ligeti produced during the brief period he informally participated in the Fluxus movement. Other examples are Trois Bagatelles for David Tudor (1961) and Die Zukunft der Musik - eine kollektive Komposition (1961) which are both more provocative experiments with silence. Of course, the title of the piece and the use of metronomes - a symbol of formal and strict music education - as musical instruments are ironic and provocative too, but the Poème certainly is a musical and acoustical experiment with interfering rhythms. In this respect it can also be regarded a precursor of Steve Reichs Pendulum Music (1968).
6 Is the Poème random music?
Although no real performance of the Poème symphonique pour 100 métronomes will ever be the same, randomness plays only a very limited role. If a mechanical metronome is wound up complete for an 'ideal performance' the number of strokes will differ not more than 1 or 2 from session to session. However it is difficult to start a 100 mechanical metronomes at exactly the same moment. It is even more difficult to wind up all 100 metronomes exactly the same limited number of turns to play a 'non-ideal performance'.
The app respects this limited randomness. When you change the setting of the spring (winding virtually) the playing time will always be slightly different. If more than one player uses the app, the 'non-ideal performance' will last the same time for all players, but sessions will be a little longer or shorter one day or another.
7 What is the relationship between the Poème and micropolyphony?
The idea that the Poème Symphonique pour 100 Métronomes also represents a rhythmic variant of Ligeti's micropolyphony isn't new. The canonic structure is a corresponding feature, of course. Paul Griffiths described the Poem in 2001 in a biography of Ligeti as "micropolyphony of unparalleled complexity".
Although the 100 metronomes only play a rhythm, together they create a chaotic soundscape that gradually becomes more transparent and quiet. Similar movements are typical for many micropolyphonic fragments in Ligeti's work.
To explore and illustrate this we 'transposed' the 'pitch' of 8 metronomes to a cluster of intervals which also occur in micropolyphonic fragments. The result of this experiment isn't only interesting from a musicological point of view ... to our surprise both the simulation and the score also sound (mp3) and look (pdf) intriguing. The voices of the metronomes can now be played by 4 string instruments as Poème symphonique pour quartuor a chordes après György Ligeti and demonstrate the micropolyphonic nature of the Poème.
8 How can the app be used during a concert?
When the app is used by more than 10 players the stereo panorama effect is automatically switched off and the smartphones of all players produce the sound of 10 or less metronomes at the same volume.
Of course, the musicians on stage can play the Poème in this way, but it is also possible to give the audience the opportunity to play the piece. As people have to switch ON their phones the app can best be used just before the end of a concert (or just before an interval).
A special version of the app is available for this use via artmusicapps.com/metronomes/concert.
This version lasts approximately 10 minutes, about the same length as the premiere directed by Ligeti. The number of players is set to 67 - 100 (or more) with 1 metronome for each player. If there are less players, the number of metronomes can be reduced by tapping the minus-button a few times and each player gets more metronomes. The performance has to be started by the director instructing the players to hit the green button. In this concert setting of the app, there is no pause or stop (restart) button to avoid delays and repetitions.
9 Where do I find more information about Ligeti and his work?
Of course, Wikipedia is a rich source of information about György Ligeti. Another interesting source is UbuWeb with some special recordings of Ligeti's work.
In 2023 a lot more information about Ligeti and his work will be available as part of the celebration of Ligeti's 100th birthday.
That's why we have limited this documentation to some frequently asked questions.
About the app
This app was developed on the occasion of Ligeti's 100th anniversary and is free. Reports of the use of the app are certainly welcome.
With special thanks to Martijn Buser and Henk Heuvelmans of Gaudeamus Foundation for their detailed information about the first performance.
You can use the app on any smartphone or computer and experiment with the length of the piece just like in a real performance by winding the spring less or more with the plus or minus button under the spring icon.
You can add players by clicking on the plus button under the player icon. Each player gets his or her share of the metronomes. The players have to decide on a signal to start at the same moment.
You start the simulation with the green play button.
The premiere of the Poème Symphonique pour 100 métronomes took place in the town hall of Hilversum in the Netherlands on 13 September 1963 as the piece was selected for the final concert of the Gaudeamus Music Week of that year. Gaudeamus, founded in 1945 by Walter Maas, was and still is the Dutch foundation that promotes contemporary music. That 13th of September the Poème was directed by Ligeti himself and performed by 10 musicians who Ligeti called his 'colleagues' because some of them were composers who also had participated in the Gaudeamus Music Week. After the performance that lasted exactly 10 minutes, Ligeti red the German score/instructions in an ironic way including all details about the shape of the metronomes, ways to get hold of 100 of those and all footnotes. 
Although no real performance of the Poème symphonique pour 100 métronomes will ever be the same, randomness plays only a very limited role. If a mechanical metronome is wound up complete for an 'ideal performance' the number of strokes will differ not more than 1 or 2 from session to session. However it is difficult to start a 100 mechanical metronomes at exactly the same moment. It is even more difficult to wind up all 100 metronomes exactly the same limited number of turns to play a 'non-ideal performance'.