And uatu & Rex are probably intimately familiar with his massive & complex output too. Maybe next month I'll start a weekly .. "guess the Stockhausen work" trivia thing .
I missed your quiz post...boy this thread really goes in spurts. Nothing for a couple days, then a Klavierstucke gets posted and boom - critics!
Yeah bring on the quiz, I'm pretty weak on the last 4 operas, but prior to that I think that'd be a fun challenge.
Speaking of SV, I just got SV 6 - Zyklus/Refrain/Kontakte and SV 88 - Balance & Gluck. Yes, a bit pricey, but when I opened up my package and saw what was included...well it's worth it, man. SV 6 comes with a 180 page book! So yes, the SV editions are expensive, but you get what you pay for. SV 88 (KLANG 7,8) didn't come with a flat spine book, but did come with a bi-lingual booklet with full-color pictures and copious notes on the compositions and their structure. The cover is a drawing by the composer himself of an "aha" moment and was originally a Xmas gift to one of his compatriots.
Another thing to consider is that these are imports and the postage and packaging is included in the price (actually a per order fee is charged for airmail if you're overseas apparently). Bottom line, you get definitive composer-approved recordings with more text notes than you can shake a college thesis at, coming from overseas in sturdy packaging.
I suppose the other problem is that this makes it difficult for people unfamiliar with Stockhausen to get into his works. I mean you can buy many a no-name contemporary composer's stuff on NAXOS for 9.99, so why bother with the expensive imported Stockhausen stuff? I guess it's like, why buy fine French Wine when I can drink Cosco/Grocery store wine? I think once one develops a taste for Stockhausen it makes it hard to go back.
Personally there are only a few composers whose work I consistently listen to: Beethoven, Debussy, Stockhausen. That's it. (OK, I'll add Stravinsky in there, but he's not as consistent as the other 3 I think.) To me those 3 guys are the geniuses of European art music. Leonard Bernstein said about Beethoven 'he never fails you, you can trust that you're in good hands' or something to that effect. I feel the same way about LvB, Debussy and KS. It may take some work, but once you "get" him...well the Stockhausen courses in Germany DID get 160 students last year, and this is even 7 years after he died. He's probably more popular now than in the last 15 years, judging by how many performances are scheduled around the world.
Not all music is worth 16.99. Some are worth more....
(Actually one of the main raisons d'être of my blog is to "explain" Stockhausen's music and ways to approach it from an uninitiated perspective. Diving deep into these things also reveals many amazing things I never realized before as well, so it's not totally altruistic
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http://stockhausenspace.blogspot.com/
