The work presages many of the more radical directions Ligeti would take in the future, exemplifying his intention 'to build a new music from nothing'.
Eight movements (I, III, IV, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI) were transcribed for bayan by Parisian accordionist Max Bonnay.
Ligeti develops this single pitch class by exploiting the dimensions of rhythm and timbre (an example of timbral counterpoint).
The coda, a metered accelerando, pounds out several more octaves of A before the final D. The relationship between D and A is reinforced by the holding of both subharmonics and overtones of D, which contain A (a result of the harmonic series).
Another light movement, this time set in an off-kilter waltz in which the triple pulse is occasionally interrupted by a measure of 2/4.
Further complicating matters rhythmically is Ligeti's indication in the score that "The metronome value refers to the maximum tempo.
As in previous movements, Ligeti chooses to introduce a new pitch class—G♯--near the middle of the piece at a fortissimo in three octaves, being especially conspicuous, though the G♯/A♭ disappears after only a few bars as it becomes subsumed by the main waltz theme.
After this, Ligeti introduces a bell-like tolling on the pitch classes of G and A♭ which continues to interrupt the fragments of the primary and secondary themes as they fade toward the end of the movement.
A descent from E to A (thus tentatively establishing an A-major tonality) defines the initial melodic material while a scalewise ascent from A to E is heard in the left hand accompaniment.
The right hand carries a folk-like melody that is first heard alone in single notes before it is juxtaposed in a loose canon with various transformed versions of itself, producing a lively counterpoint with rich harmonies and a sense of rhythmic freedom.
In fact, the many metric "skips" and rhythmic offsets may be referring to folk musicians who accidentally enter at the wrong times.
After a strong restatement of the opening theme, Ligeti transitions into a set of material labeled "capriccioso e burlesco", which uses an arpeggiated melody with chromatic accompaniment, effectively a combination of the two principal ideas thus far.
As Ligeti makes more and more use of the minor second dissonance between the two pitch centers of D and C♯ through further restatements of the first, second, and third themes, tone clusters begin to develop.
[9] The Baroque composer Girolamo Frescobaldi is regarded as an important innovator in the field of the ricercare, a forerunner of the later fugue form of imitative counterpoint.
Successive entrances of the theme occur at the fifth, as in a proper fugue, but always immediately follow the previous complete subject statement.
After a series of stretti that extend the outer voices to the very edges of the piano's range, the subject becomes rhythmically fragmented and irregular, eventually alighting on the final pitch class A, with which the entire work began.
The complete work has been recorded by Pierre-Laurent Aimard (1996), Fredrik Ullén (1998), Noelia Rodiles (2014) and Bruno Vlahek (2020).