Karlheinz Stockhausen(1928-2007)
- Composer
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
A musical pioneer, Karlheinz Stockhausen broke many barriers and
taboos. He wrote more than 300 works in various genres from opera and
orchestral pieces to electronic music and complex compositions where
performers, producers, helicopters, recording equipment, and audiences
all together become his instruments.
He was born Karlheinz Stockhausen in the suburb of Cologne, in 1928.
His father, Simon, was a school teacher, his mother, Gertrude, was an
amateur pianist. He played piano from age 7, showing a perfect pitch
and impressive memory. He lost both parents in WWII, being only twelve
years old. At age 16 he was recruited to serve at the war hospital,
where he attended hundreds of severely wounded. He studied music at
Cologne Musikhochschule, at Cologne University (1945-51), at Paris
Conservatory (1951-53) with
Olivier Messiaen and
Darius Milhaud. At the University of Bonn
(1954-56) he studied information theory, acoustics and composition.
Stockhausen began his experiments with live music and recorded sounds
in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He played with the tape-recorded
sounds of glass, metal, wood and other unconventional sources in Paris
Radio Studio and at Cologne Radio (WDR) electronic studio. His
experimental work at the West Deutsche Rundfunk (WDR) studio in Cologne
was the leading work with recorded sound at that time. His purely
electronic compositions made in 1953-54, such as "Electronic Study"
(1953), were the first ever written and published works in this new
genre. His ground-braking "Klavierstuck XI (1956), which features 19
elements to be performed in changing sequences, was one of the early
works in aleatoric (controlled chance) music.
In the early 1960s Stockhausen collaborated with
Yoko Ono in her New York loft concerts.
He also staged happenings with
George Maciunas and other avant-garde
performers of the "Fluxus" movement. At that time he experimented with
cross-genre shows where musicians and audiences all together become
performers in a setting that provoked imagination and inventiveness.
and various non-musical objects, and even people in the audience were
also used as musical instruments. Although details of such
experimentations could not be registered in notation, the breakthrough
was that any person could come out of the audiences and join the
performers in making music.
In 1968 Stockhausen wrote the conceptual "From Seven Days" after living
completely alone and without food, being influenced by Sri Aurobindo.
In "Ylem" (1972) he instructs 19 musicians to establish telepathic
communication with each other while performing this 26-minute
happening. His "Helikopter-Streichquartett" (1992-95) was written for 4
musicians performing on 4 flying helicopters with electronic video and
sound inter-com technology, and was performed and recorded in 1996
several times by the Arditti Quartet on helicopters provided by the
Austrian Army. Stockhausen's largest work took him 25 years to
complete. It is the mega-opera consisting of seven operas, one 24-hour
opera for each day of the week, is entitled "Licht" (Light, 1977-2003).
In the course of his career spanning over 60 years, Stockhausen created
over 300 compositions, presenting a conceptual mix of occidental an
oriental cultures. His thought-provoking output was cited as an
influence by the The Beatles,
Yoko Ono,
Kraftwerk,
Miles Davis,
Frank Zappa,
Herbie Hancock, and
Björk. Stockhausen appeared on the cover of
The Beatles' album Sergeant Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band with Paul McCartney, one
of his numerous fans across the universe.
Outside of his entertainment profession, Stockhausen was a highly
unusual and sometimes controversial figure. His comment about the
tragedy of 9/11 as "the work of art" attracted much controversy. He
later apologized for the reaction to the comment, but said that he was
misquoted and misunderstood. Stockhausen was married twice and had six
children. He died of natural causes on December 5, 2007, in Kuerten,
and was laid to rest in the Forest cemetery in Kuerten, Germany.
taboos. He wrote more than 300 works in various genres from opera and
orchestral pieces to electronic music and complex compositions where
performers, producers, helicopters, recording equipment, and audiences
all together become his instruments.
He was born Karlheinz Stockhausen in the suburb of Cologne, in 1928.
His father, Simon, was a school teacher, his mother, Gertrude, was an
amateur pianist. He played piano from age 7, showing a perfect pitch
and impressive memory. He lost both parents in WWII, being only twelve
years old. At age 16 he was recruited to serve at the war hospital,
where he attended hundreds of severely wounded. He studied music at
Cologne Musikhochschule, at Cologne University (1945-51), at Paris
Conservatory (1951-53) with
Olivier Messiaen and
Darius Milhaud. At the University of Bonn
(1954-56) he studied information theory, acoustics and composition.
Stockhausen began his experiments with live music and recorded sounds
in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He played with the tape-recorded
sounds of glass, metal, wood and other unconventional sources in Paris
Radio Studio and at Cologne Radio (WDR) electronic studio. His
experimental work at the West Deutsche Rundfunk (WDR) studio in Cologne
was the leading work with recorded sound at that time. His purely
electronic compositions made in 1953-54, such as "Electronic Study"
(1953), were the first ever written and published works in this new
genre. His ground-braking "Klavierstuck XI (1956), which features 19
elements to be performed in changing sequences, was one of the early
works in aleatoric (controlled chance) music.
In the early 1960s Stockhausen collaborated with
Yoko Ono in her New York loft concerts.
He also staged happenings with
George Maciunas and other avant-garde
performers of the "Fluxus" movement. At that time he experimented with
cross-genre shows where musicians and audiences all together become
performers in a setting that provoked imagination and inventiveness.
and various non-musical objects, and even people in the audience were
also used as musical instruments. Although details of such
experimentations could not be registered in notation, the breakthrough
was that any person could come out of the audiences and join the
performers in making music.
In 1968 Stockhausen wrote the conceptual "From Seven Days" after living
completely alone and without food, being influenced by Sri Aurobindo.
In "Ylem" (1972) he instructs 19 musicians to establish telepathic
communication with each other while performing this 26-minute
happening. His "Helikopter-Streichquartett" (1992-95) was written for 4
musicians performing on 4 flying helicopters with electronic video and
sound inter-com technology, and was performed and recorded in 1996
several times by the Arditti Quartet on helicopters provided by the
Austrian Army. Stockhausen's largest work took him 25 years to
complete. It is the mega-opera consisting of seven operas, one 24-hour
opera for each day of the week, is entitled "Licht" (Light, 1977-2003).
In the course of his career spanning over 60 years, Stockhausen created
over 300 compositions, presenting a conceptual mix of occidental an
oriental cultures. His thought-provoking output was cited as an
influence by the The Beatles,
Yoko Ono,
Kraftwerk,
Miles Davis,
Frank Zappa,
Herbie Hancock, and
Björk. Stockhausen appeared on the cover of
The Beatles' album Sergeant Pepper's Lonely
Hearts Club Band with Paul McCartney, one
of his numerous fans across the universe.
Outside of his entertainment profession, Stockhausen was a highly
unusual and sometimes controversial figure. His comment about the
tragedy of 9/11 as "the work of art" attracted much controversy. He
later apologized for the reaction to the comment, but said that he was
misquoted and misunderstood. Stockhausen was married twice and had six
children. He died of natural causes on December 5, 2007, in Kuerten,
and was laid to rest in the Forest cemetery in Kuerten, Germany.