Part 1 of Essay
This piece is a lesson in polytonality, dissonance, and complexity. The first thing heard is an imitation of a car horn that seems designed to grab hold of the listener. If I were inattentive before this piece, I certainly was wide awake when it was over. Ligeti seems to have sculpted a piece together from bits and pieces ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... a bit of editorial from the composer himself on big-band music in general? The marching band ushers in the beginning of the end, gaining speed and volume. The texture of the piece grows with the addition of another instrument every few measures. After a short build, the threshold of noise is reached. All of the instruments of the band and orchestra are playing at their highest volume, playing solos of a mixture of styles, in a polyrhythmic soup of sound. The peak of this amalgamation is reached, and the slow, alm ....