Perhaps a little 'high brow' for the current 'populist pop' Org but here goes -

This from the BBC Website -


German composer Stockhausen dies

Stockhausen was a member of the avant-garde movement
German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen has died at the age of 79.
Born in Modrath, near Cologne, the prolific musician wrote more than 300 works from orchestral pieces to pure electronic music during his career.

He also appeared on the cover of The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper album - with Paul McCartney one of his numerous fans in the world of rock and pop.

The composer died in Kuerten, western Germany, on Wednesday, the Stockhausen Foundation announced in a statement.

Ambitious opera

Best known for his avant-garde electronic work, Stockhausen was an experimental musician who utilised tape recorders and mathematics to create innovative, ground-breaking pieces.

His Electronic Study, 1953, was the first musical piece composed from pure sine wave sounds.

Electronic Study II, produced a year later, was the first work of electronic music to be notated and published.

But the composer rejected the idea that he was making the music of the future, writing in 1966: "What is modern today will be tradition tomorrow."

Stockhausen's most ambitious work was the seven-part operatic cycle Licht, each part of which is named after a day of the week.


Stockhausen was at times controversial

It took Stockhausen 25 years to compose, beginning in 1977, and is due to be performed in full for the first time next year at The European Centre for the Arts Hellerau in Dresden, Germany.

The composer studied at the State Academy for Music in Cologne and the University of Cologne from 1947 to 1951.

In 1952 he went to Paris, where he worked under the composers Olivier Messiaen and Darius Milhaud.

Musicians such as Miles Davis, Frank Zappa and Bjork have cited him as an influence.

But he was not universally popular. The conductor Sir Thomas Beecham was once asked whether he had conducted any Stockhausen. He replied: "No, but I once trod in some."

The composer also attracted controversy after the terrorist attacks on New York on 11 September 2001, which he reportedly described as "the greatest work of art there is in the entire cosmos".

He apologised for the upset caused by the comments, but denied making the statement, saying he had been misquoted.

Stockhausen, who was married twice and had six children, will be buried in the forest cemetery in Kuerten.



A modern master whose time has not yet come, or a late survivor of the blind alley that was '20th Century Classical/ Experimental Music?'

Stockhausen and the Beatles - This from Stockhausen's official Website -


On May 1, 1967 the Beatles contacted Stockhausen through Brian Epstein's NEMS Enterprises to obtain permission to use his photo on the upcoming Beatles LP "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band".

Since Stockhausen was pursuing a busy schedule of teaching and concerts in the USA and Europe, he was unable to respond immediately to the Beatles' request. Brian Epstein sent a desperate telegram on May 8th to obtain permission. Time was important since the LP was to go on sale in June 1, 1967.

Paul McCartney claims in several statements that he was the first Beatle to discover Stockhausen's music. Sir Paul has named GESANG DER JUNGLINGE as his favorite Stockhausen work. McCartney probably introduced the late John Lennon to Stockhausen's music in mid-1966. Lennon was also greatly influenced by Stockhausen. HYMNEN was Lennon's inspiration for REVOLUTION #9 on the Beatles' White Album.

Rock musicians such as Frank Zappa, Peter Townshend, Jerry Garcia and Bjork name Stockhausen as a major influence on their musical lives and work. Jazz musicians like Miles Davis, George Russell, Anthony Braxton and Charles Mingus have also been Stockhausen admirers.

The Brothers Quay (stop motion animators) made an interestion short film called...



...In Absentia using Zwei Paare by Karlheinz Stockhausen as the soundtrack.


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"But I'm an adventurer. I like invention, I like discovery."

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"As a matter of fact, what we can see through the eyes is very limited, much more limited than what we can hear."

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"Whenever I felt happy about having discovered something, the first encounter, not only with the public, with other musicians, with specialists, etc, was that they rejected it. "

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"I no longer limit myself."

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Karlheinz Stockhausen


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Stockhausen certainly was a massive influence and one of 20th century's biggest forces in art music, although some of his later works are debated controversially by some.

Gesang der Jünglinge
Gruppen
Kontakte

probably all are milestones in music history.

However, he was a very religious man and said he always wanted to move more to the center of the galaxy to continue composing. He's probably doing that right now.

I remember listening to my first Stockhausen recording ("Telemusik") when I was 18. I had just taken some vinyl LPs from the library the day before, but happened to develop a horrible headache and a high fever for the next. So I thought I got nothing else to do than listen to these LPs for the moment being I guess...

I have to say it really enhanced the composition's effectiveness.