Dérive 2 for 11 instruments was first composed in 1988 and the revised between 2006-2009. Is was dedicated to Elliott Carter for his 80th anniversary (1988). Boulez wrote about Dérive 2:
When I reflected on some of Ligeti’s compositions, I felt the desire to dedicate myself to some almost theoretical research into periodicity in order to systematically examine its overlays, its shifts and its exchange.
