Stockhausen's Spaceship

[petrarch]

[asin]B00MQSCJJE[/asin]

Heard this the other day. It was especially fun to revisit Kontakte and dust the score after too many years. The sonics are impressive, although I found the tape part to be too subdued.

[Uatu]

Just finished watching the final 2 pieces on the MODE DVD. Percussion Trio & Refrain .. both really wonderful and balanced performances, great sound .. and shot better. The performance of Refrain in particular was just so good, shimmering, resonant, together. Overall a very fine DVD of some of the most bold & original percussion music ever composed, each piece is absolutely fascinating. I'm glad MODE put this out there, it is a wonderful document, and seeing this stuff performed was an added bonus/insight. I'd love to see a sequel to this .. Music in the Belly, Vibra-Elufa, Mittwoch-Formel, Strahlen, Heaven's Door etc ..

OK I ordered this.  Sounds too good to pass up. Thanks!

[Uatu]

OK, I think I probably posted this last year, but I've since added a pretty hefty section breakdown so I'm doing a "rerelease"...

CARRÉ for 4 orchestras and 4 choirs

http://stockhausenspace.blogspot.com/2014/05/opus-10-carre.html



One thing that I thought was very appropriate was that the work was inspired by listening to window vibrations while flying in a jet, and ironically in Section 82X (track 78 on the SV CD) a jet actually flies overhead, bleeding into the recording! 

[Uatu]

This one received a few performances this year .. including a couple from musikFabrik whom have a recording contract with Wergo. I'm hoping this stuff was recorded .. we could use another recording in modern sound.

Absolutely second that.  And hopefully in surround sound if DVDA.

[Uatu]

Oh I just went to Athens last year!  Damn, if I had known I would have put it off till this year....This sounds great.

[Uatu]

I had time last nite to view the first 2 items on the menu. Solar plexus works - Zyklus & Kontakte. Having being inundated with high definition blu rays in the last few years .. sitting down and watching a DVD is a little underwhelming. So the visual clarity/definition was little bit of a letdown, as were a few video edits/cuts .. but this isn't a big Hollywood affair .. and so far .. that is my only qualm - and it is a minor one. The performance & sound is fabulous .. rich and detailed, musical. The performers are so in tune with the otherworldly electronic music of Kontakte, like they have certainly lived it and breathed it .. they make contacts with it so naturally & musically, that it feels like a trio, like the electronic sounds are a performer. And Schick's Zyklus performance is very beautiful, and flows between all the various timbres so well .. capturing an air of excitement, mystery and power.

[asin]B00MQSCJJE[/asin]

ALRIGHT!

I can confirm that this KICKS-AZZ.  Haven't finished the whole dvd yet, but so far ZYKLUS and KONTAKTE give the surround speakers are real workout.  Frankly KONTAKTE alone is worth triple the price.  I've heard KONTAKTE in quad in a large auditorium but hearing it in a private viewing gives it a really beautiful intimate quality.  I don't have any opinion about the visuals since I listened with closed eyes in a darkened room, which is how Stockhausen often recommends listening to his electronic works.  Anyways, I'll probably write a more detailed review on Amazon, but for now all I can say to anybody reading, if you are on the fence, do it.  This disc sets a new standard for releasing multi-channel electronic music. 

Now I need multi-channel HYMNEN, GESANG DER JUNGLINGE, OKTOPHONIE, Poeme Electronique,...Artikulation...!

[kishnevi]

Question which occurred to me while listening to the Miles at the Fillmore set.

I know KS influenced Davis, but is there any evidence that Miles may have influenced KS?

Thought chain initiated by the simple observation that in Licht Michael's instrument is the trumpet.

[Uatu]

Question which occurred to me while listening to the Miles at the Fillmore set.

I know KS influenced Davis, but is there any evidence that Miles may have influenced KS?

Thought chain initiated by the simple observation that in Licht Michael's instrument is the trumpet.

I've never heard anything like that - I always assumed Michael played trumpet because Stockhausen's son played the part.  There may also be some semi-biblical reference there as well...

[kishnevi]

I've never heard anything like that - I always assumed Michael played trumpet because Stockhausen's son played the part.  There may also be some semi-biblical reference there as well...

Probably so on the immediate thought,  but it did lead me to wonder if there was more significant influence by MD on KS.

[chadfeldheimer]

Even if most forum-members do not understand the language, this short German TV-documentary about Stockhausen from 1968 might be worthwile, if only for the scene at 12:50 showing him operating the sound control behind his back. There are also interesting sections with performance exercises for "Momente", "Mikrophonie 1" and "'Hymnen".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeH9vJFwtoc

[CRCulver]

Miles actually met Stockhausen and rumor has it that Miles couldn't stop talking about him afterward .. they supposedly recorded some stuff together too which has never surfaced.

Could you cite that, please? If I recall correctly, last time I looked into this I could find no proof the two men actually met, and Miles Davis seems to have known of Stockhausen's work only through Paul Buckmaster and Teo Macero.

[Uatu]

Speaking of jazz, I find parts of Natural Durations 24 to be pretty jazzy and worlds apart from Klavierstucke I-VIII.  Lots of gorgeous Bill Evans-ey chords.

[Uatu]

New recording: Bernhard Wambach-Havemann re-visiting Klavierstücke.

Could be interesting to hear this new interpretation (his previous set didn't make that much of an impression on me).  My fav set so far is the Sony Kontarsky set, but I had to reverse the stereo fields on that so that the keyboard spacial set up is the same as the Corver set.  Corver's set is perfectly recorded, but I just missed those "macho" left hand bass bombs that Kontarsky does.  He really put the full weight of his body in some of those fortissimo strikes.  Perhaps Ellen weighs less? 

[Uatu]

Even if most forum-members do not understand the language, this short German TV-documentary about Stockhausen from 1968 might be worthwile, if only for the scene at 12:50 showing him operating the sound control behind his back. There are also interesting sections with performance exercises for "Momente", "Mikrophonie 1" and "'Hymnen".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeH9vJFwtoc

Cool - thanks for posting about this, somehow I never saw this - from what gather as a non-German speaker it seems that KS molded the Hymnen "improvisation parts" more than I originally thought.  Fascinating. 

[Uatu]

Also these new items ..

[asin]B00O2JC1B6[/asin]
[asin]B00P73KJ3S[/asin]

Haven't heard these yet.  The Mantra link doesn't work, is it sold out?

[EigenUser]

I listened to Refrain last night...

...and I actually enjoyed it! It's such a strange piece, but that made it all the more intriguing. Almost like a Stockhausenian scherzo. It is the most 'human' sounding work of his that I've heard so far and it had a lighthearted, playful quality that I haven't noticed in his music before. The sounds were passed from one performer to another like some kind of musical game of Hot Potato.

[chadfeldheimer]

Cool - thanks for posting about this, somehow I never saw this - from what gather as a non-German speaker it seems that KS molded the Hymnen "improvisation parts" more than I originally thought.  Fascinating.

Indeed - you understood right, without knowing the language. There is another fascinating video uploaded by the same Youtube-user showing a full performance of "Mikrophonie 1".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhXU7wQCU0Y&list=UUBB9emlQ813Eimq0sOJDzvw

[Uatu]

OK this took a while but I do recall someone making a request on this one a while back...

GRUPPEN (Groups) for 3 count'em 3 orchestras



http://stockhausenspace.blogspot.com/2014/12/opus-6-gruppen.html

From what I've been able to figure out from some pretty complicated explanations and theses, I think I was able to condense it all into a nice lunch-break sized portion.

[EigenUser]

 

How many works is that on the 'like' list now?

Hmm... more than I'd like to admit...

Mantra I like a lot, actually. Same with Tierkreis. Cosmic Pulses is cool, but I'd want to hear it live. And Refrain was fun.

4.

OK this took a while but I do recall someone making a request on this one a while back...

GRUPPEN (Groups) for 3 count'em 3 orchestras



http://stockhausenspace.blogspot.com/2014/12/opus-6-gruppen.html

From what I've been able to figure out from some pretty complicated explanations and theses, I think I was able to condense it all into a nice lunch-break sized portion.

Thank you so much!!! I'm going to look at it now.

[chadfeldheimer]

I listened to Refrain last night...

...and I actually enjoyed it! It's such a strange piece, but that made it all the more intriguing. Almost like a Stockhausenian scherzo. It is the most 'human' sounding work of his that I've heard so far and it had a lighthearted, playful quality that I haven't noticed in his music before. The sounds were passed from one performer to another like some kind of musical game of Hot Potato.

For me the lightheartedness/playfullness you noticed in Refrain and also his humor are importants keys for many of Stockhausen's works. Examples that directly come to my mind besides "Gruppen" would be "Kontrapunkte", "Zyklus", "Kurzwellen" and particularly earlier electroacustic works like  "Gesang der Jünglinge" (link below), where Stockhausen joyously plays with the theme church/boy-choir or "Hymnen" where he deconstructs national anthems in a very playfull, inventive and also humorous way. This does not mean that you'll find no seriousness there. If you're looking for that, you will still find it too. But what you IMO opinion will not find is satire or irony.

upload "Gesang der Jünglinge"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTtzAmZFtds