Karlheinz Stockhausen - Kontakte/Refrain/Zyklus - Bernhard Wambach, etc.

Posted By : capt.evil1 | Date : 13 Oct 2009 15:02:04 | Comments : 2 |

Karlheinz Stockhausen
1928 - 2007

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German composer of modern music, electronic music and operas. He was initially influenced by the music of Anton Webern, and by serialism (a method of composing non-tonal music). He studied under Olivier Messiaen in 1952, and his early works, like Spiel and Kreuzspiel, show the influence of both these masters. He was one of the first composers to write electronic music, having first studied phonetics and information/communication theory at Bonn University.

Kontakte is a compostion which includes a tape playback of electronic sounds which zip and swirl about via loudspeakers placed around the audience. Zyklus, for solo percussion, is written so that the performance can start on any page, and it may be read upside down, or from right to left, or not, as the performer chooses. Refrain is somewhat meditative with its rarefied, ringing chords of bell-like sonorities, and occasional tutti vocalizations by the three instrumentalists.

Stockhausen is a conceptual composer – his texts and his musical designs reflect occidental and oriental musical concepts, as well as eastern and western spiritual truths. Every composition is a complete rethinking of the term "music", incorporating European and non-European tradition, the latest musical technolgy, and a wide range of musical cultures.

Note - A young Karlheinz Stockhausen can be spotted on the Beatles' famous Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover.

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