The beginning of the 1950s marks a turning-point in György Ligeti's early career. At that time, Ligeti had become disappointed regarding his rather marginal position in Hungarian musical life, and he might well have felt some dissatisfaction with his own artistic output, as well. He then set himself certain compositional tasks, and imposed restrictions on pitch content, intervals, and rhythms 'as if to build up a "new music" from nothing'. His collection called Musica Ricercata was the first fruit of his experimental project and marked a renewal of Ligeti's musical creative output. The seventh piece in the set is mostly based around 7 notes: A♭, A, B♭, C, D, E♭, F, with the addition of the note G. The left-hand plays a seven-note ostinato that should be rhythmically and dynamically independent from the right hand. In juxtaposition, the right-hand carries a folk-like melody, producing rich harmonies, and a sense of rhythmic freedom. The piece concludes with the right hand taking over the ostinato at a yet higher octave; the ostinato progressively loses notes until it is only a trill on F and G which proceeds to fade away to silence.