Stockhausen, Karlheinz

Stockhausen, Karlheinz (b Mödrath, nr. Cologne, 1928). Ger. composer, regarded as leader of electronic avant-garde. Son of village schoolmaster. Began to learn pf. at 5, also vn. and ob. Worked after 1945 as farmhand, also played pf. in dance-bands. Studied at Cologne Musik-Hochschule 1947–51 (pf. and theory) and Cologne Univ. 1952. Studied comp. 1950 with Frank Martin and began his own analytical studies of Schoenberg, Bartók, and Webern. At Darmstadt int. summer school 1951 met Messiaen and Boulez. At this time he wrote his Kreuzspiel for pf., ob., bass cl., and perc. Lived in Paris 1952–3, studying with Messiaen. Worked in musique concrète studios of Fr. Radio and experimented with use of elec. tone generators. In 1953 returned to Cologne, becoming assistant to Herbert Eimert in elec. mus. studio of W. Ger. Radio. Became dir. of the studio in 1963. From 1954 to 1956 studied phonetics and acoustics with W. Meyer-Eppler at Bonn Univ., this enabling him to have a complete understanding of his mus. material through ability to produce an infinite number of sounds and their permutations and to analyse them scientifically. In 1954 became ed. of new magazine for serial mus., Die Reihe, founded by Eimert. Gave first lecture- concerts in USA 1958 and since then has toured frequently as lecturer and cond. of small ens. Pupils from all over the world went to study with him and in 1957 he was appointed head of comp. courses at Darmstadt. Visiting prof. at several Amer. univs. Founded, 1963, Cologne Course for New Mus., teaching comp. until 1968. Prof. of comp., Cologne Musik-Hochschule from 1971. Collected writings pubd. in several vols.

Few composers of the 20th-cent. ‘New Music’ can approach Stockhausen in the length and extent of his studies for his task. The first and strongest influence on his development was the mus. of Webern. Through detailed and profound analysis of Webern's mus., he realized how much further he could take Webern's techniques. He evolved the theory of ‘parameters’ or dimensions of sound: pitch, intensity, duration, timbre, and position in space. As Webern had serialized pitches, so Stockhausen in his early works serialized each parameter. Webern's method of composing with small ‘cells’ of motifs was developed by Stockhausen into what he called ‘group composition’, a group being a slice of mus. time (the larger groups are called ‘moments’). How various groups are inter-related decides the formal design of a work. The culmination of this period came in 1961–4 with Momente. The next step was a new attitude to mus. mobility, whereby the order of self- contained groups could be varied so that mus. continuity could be altered. The 11th (1956) of his series of pf. works Klavierstücke is in mobile form, the groups being playable in any order the performer selects. In Zyklus (1959) for solo percussionist, the performer may start at any of its 17 pages and go on until he returns to his starting-point (he may read from left to right or turn over the score and go from right to left). The element of chance in these works means that no 2 perfs. are ever likely to be identical. In elec. mus., Stockhausen explored the spatial parameter (and transferred the same procedures to live mus. in his Gruppen for 3 orchs.). He began to specify the procedures—placing and use of microphones, etc.—for producing sounds, sometimes, as in Carré, calculating beforehand the basic materials and forms but leaving realization of details to someone else. In Prozession (1967), the mus. events are taken from various of his earlier comps.

The whole concept of elec. mus. is still so strange to ears accustomed to the disciplines of instr. comp. that the majority of audiences find it beyond their ken. But Stockhausen has an enormous following. He is constantly re-examining his theories, restructuring his comps., and exploring new media, in contrast to Boulez who seems to have remained where he was 20 years earlier. He has reached a wide audience with such works as Gesang der Jünglinge, which combines elec. sounds with the v. of a boy sop. altered by echo-effects, filters, etc., and the Orient-inspired Stimmung, in which for 75 minutes 6 singers take up elec. tones coming from concealed speakers and create a trance-like but ever-shifting vocalization. Prin. works:OPERAS: Donnerstag aus Licht (1978–80); Samstag aus Licht (1981–3); Montag aus Licht (1984–8); Dienstag aus Licht (1977–91). Four parts of projected opera cycle, Licht, one for each day of the week.ORCH.: Formel (1951); Punkte (1952, rev. 1962; rev. as Kontra-Punkte, 10 instr. 1952–3); Spiel (1952, rev. 1973); Gruppen, 3 orch. (1955–7); Carré, 4 orch., 4 choirs (1959–60); Stop (1965; Paris version 1969 for 18 players in 6 groups; London version 19 instrs., 1973); Fresco, 4 orch. groups (1969); Trans (1971); Inori (Adorations), soloist, orch. (1973–4); Jubiläum (1977); Scenes from Licht (Part I, Der Jahreslauf, dancers, orch. 1977; Part 2 Michaels Reise um die Erde, tpt., ens. 1978; Part 3, Michaels Jugend, sop., ten., bass, tpt., basset horn, tb., modulated pf., 3 dancers, tape, 1978–9; Part 4, Michaels Heimkehr, as Part 3 except that ch. and orch. replace tape, 1979).CHAMBER ENSEMBLE: 3 Lieder, high v., chamber orch. (1950); Kreuzspiel, ob., bass cl., pf., perc. (1951); Percussion trio, pf., perc. (1952, rev. 1974); Kontra-punkte, 10 instr. (1952–3, rev. of Punkte for orch.); Zeitmasze, 5 winds (1955–6); Refrain, pf., cel., perc. (1959); Momente, sop., 4 ch. groups, 13 instr. (1961–4, another version 1972); Adieu, wind quintet (1966); Aus den sieben Tagen, 15 comps. for ens. (1968); Für Dr. K, sextet (1969); Für Kommende Zeiten, 17 texts for intuitive mus. (1968–70); Ylem, 19 players or singers (1972); Tierkreis (Zodiac) (1975–7); In Freundschaft, fl., cl., ob., tpt., vn., va. (1977).ELECTRONIC: Electronic Study I (1953), II (1954); Gesang der Jünglinge, on tape (boy's v.) (1955–6); Kontakte, pf., perc., elec. sounds (1959–60), also for elec. sounds (1959–60), and Originale (1961), mus. th. piece with Kontakte; Mikrophonie I, tam-tam and elecs. (1964), II, ch., Hammond org., elecs. (1965); Mixtur, 5 orch., elecs. (1964), reduced scoring (1967); Solo, melody instr. with feedback (1965–6); Telemusik, on tape (1966); Hymnen, tape and concrete mus. (1966–7), tape and concrete mus. with 4 soloists (1966–7), with orch. (1969, much shorter version); Prozession, tam-tam, pf., elecs. (1967); Kurzwellen (Short-wave), tam-tam, pf., elecs. (1968); Spiral, soloist with short-wave receiver (1969); Sirius, elecs., 4 soloists (1975).VOICES: Chöre für Doris, unacc. mixed ch. (1950); Choral, unacc. ch. (1950); Stimmung, 6 singers (1968); ‘Am Himmel wandre Ich …’, 12 Indian songs (1972); Atmen gibt das Leben …, mixed ch. (1974, rev. as ‘choral opera’ 1977).PIANO(S): Klavierstücke: I–IV (1952–3), V (1954–5), VI (1954–5), VII (1954–5), VIII (1954), IX (1954–5, rev. 1961), X (1954–5, rev. 1961), XI (1956); Pole, 2 pf., 2 short-wave receivers (1969–70); Expo, 3 pf. (1969–70); Mantra, 2 pianists, elecs. (1969–70); Klavierstücke XIII (part of Samstag aus Licht (1984)).SOLO PERCUSSION: Zyklus for 1 percussionist (1959).CHAMBER MUSIC: sonatina, vn., pf. (1951); Laub und Regen, cl., va. (1974); Harlekin, cl. (1975); Der kleine Harlekin, cl. (1975); Amour, 5 pieces, cl. (1976).