FREE with Pay What You Wish admission
FREE for Members
1905 Building

Join the Buffalo Chamber Players for a rare performance of Poème symphonique by György Ligeti (1923–2006), during which 100 mechanical metronomes are wound and started together at various speeds, with the performance ending when all the metronomes have stopped ticking.

Composed in 1962, the work arose from Ligeti’s brief involvement with the Fluxus movement. Poème symphonique is a critique of the hundreds of competing ideologies of the time and asks the listener to reflect on what constitutes art in a world of infinite artistic freedom.

Poème symphonique was last performed at the Albright-Knox on March 4, 1965, as part of Evenings for New Music during the Buffalo Festival of the Arts Today. 

Part of M&T FIRST FRIDAYS @ THE GALLERY

On the first Friday of every month—from 10 am to 10 pm—admission to part of the museum and select events are free for everyone. Certain events are available for a fee. Admission to special exhibitions is Pay What You Wish. Learn More