When you hear about György Ligeti's Atmosphères, you immediately think of the 1968 cult film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The appearance of Atmosphères in the film has earned it widespread recognition and visibility, and this is certainly for good reason. In Atmosphères, Ligeti explored unprecedented paradigms of plot, structure, and rhythm that would ultimately make this piece the avant-garde of the avant-garde. Therefore, this essay aims to explore Ligeti's historical background and the new musical techniques he employed in Atmosphéres. György Ligeti was born on May 28, 1923 in Hungary, to a Jewish family. World War II abruptly ended his studies and Ligeti was subsequently deported to Budapest to work in the army. Although Ligeti managed to escape the brutal forces of the Nazis, he was taken prisoner by Russian troops on four separate occasions, each time managing to escape. At this point in his life, Ligeti had already experienced much suffering due to World War II. Fortunately, after the war, Ligeti returned to Budapest and was accepted into the Franz Liszt Academy to continue his training in composition. However, during 1948, Stalinism intensified and the Soviets began to establish a dictatorship. Basic freedoms were taken away and cultural activities were banned. As a result, Ligeti never had the chance to explore and innovate as he was violently frowned upon in Hungary. Ligeti eventually fled Budapest in 1956, crossing into Austria on foot at night. After being exposed to the tyrannies of Hitler and Stalin, Ligeti was finally granted the artistic freedom and independence he had long desired. As such, Ligeti naturally turned to the Western European avant-garde, then to... the paper medium... to gradually develop and intertwine with each other, creating an intricate and complex and dense sound. With this mass of sound, Ligeti creates unity in this piece, as the audience itself hears a gigantic atmospheric sound that exists as an independent entity. In this way, Ligeti managed to overcome the challenge posed by serialism through such “alternative paradigms”. In conclusion, Atmosphères distances itself from conventionally dominant musical elements, such as melody, rhythm and harmony, and instead takes on what were previously considered secondary elements. of music and transformed them into a barrage of evolving sounds. Thus, Ligeti successfully met the demands for an “alternative paradigm” for music that accompanied the “widespread hopes for a new social order,” creating an innovative sonic experience that remains unmatched today...