With reference to his Etudes pour piano, a work in progress started in 1985, composer György Ligeti stated: “They behave as growing organisms”. These compositions open up new horizons as they are the product of very diverse spheres of influence. Cases in point would be the work of Frédéric Chopin and Claude Debussy, Conlon Nancarrow’s player piano, geometry as perceived by Benoït Mandelbrot and Heinz-Otto Peitgen, improvisations by Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans, Balkan music, the Balinese gamelan ensembles and Central African polyphony.