Stockhausen on Music (Paperback)

~ (Author), Robin Maconie (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The leading German composer of electronic music presents his theories of composition and performance. Transcribed from a series of public lectures given in English in 1971, and a long interview with Maconie in 1981, the book covers electronic, chance and intuitive music, process planning and other trends in avant-garde composition. Maconie ( The Works of Karlheinz Stockhausen ) has retained the flavor of Stockhausen's English, revealing much of the composer's personality as he talks about his sources of inspiration and describes in detail his composing methods. Stockhausen's lectures contain penetrating philosophical and spiritual observations on his lifelong involvement with sound and his desire to build an aural tradition. Published on the occasion of the composer's 60th birthday, the book includes a chronological list of Stockhausen's works and a discography.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Description

If a genius is someone whose ideas survive all attempts at explanation', writes the well-known contemporary musicologist Robin Maconie, 'then by that definition Stockhausen is the nearest thing to Beethoven this century has produced. Reason? His music lasts.

With penetrating philosophical and spiritual insights Stockhausen describes, in this collection of lectures and interviews conducted in English, a whole new universe of sounds and events.

"Stockhausen's uncompromising attitude to conventional aesthetics has made him one of the world's most admired musicians."?The Independent

"Let there be no doubt that he is a giant, a monster cartographer of massive new spaces."?Tempo

"The great innovator of the 1950s and 1960s is still a fountain of ideas. Stockhausen on Music shows the extrordinary range of his mind."?The Sunday Times

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714529184
• ISBN-13: 978-0714529189
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #594,645 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent collection of articles, May 1, 2000

By	Raul Minsburg (Argenitna) - See all my reviews

This is an excellent collection osf articles wich focuses on differents aspects of Stockhausen musical thinking. Make a good read of "Ponts and groups", "Composing statistically", "Moment-forminng and MOMENTE" and "Microphonie". It was specially fruitful for me, despite I have benn reading differents books about Stockhausen before. It is also strongly recommended for those who want to read about him for the first time. There are several of allusions to his bests works, specially the one he composed in the 60's, like Kontakte or Gruppen. It is not a strongly "ego" book like the interview of Mya Tannenbaum, so you may enjoy it, and, certainly learn a lot about him and about music too.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exposition into a great musical mind of the 20th century. ., December 3, 2000

By	scarecrow "scarecrow" (Chicago, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

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. . . if you have no idea of the Stockhausen Haus of creativity, the genius who resides within, this is for you, although the material here is quite old,from 1981, interviews, and lectures even older from 1971 in London, this is/are materials: perceptive in teaching how his innovations,scourings,analyses,timbral combustions,and architectural musical plannings/ scores set in motion a set of musical problematics. I guess I've always abandoned that aspect of Stockhausen, the teacher side, and he has always been/ was fascinating: begging,demanding,requiring of his students to read the great works of world culture, from Asia and the ancient Aztec culture.One where Aztec priests in Oaxaca would shuffle between alters underground before thousands giving the impression of a multitude of priests, when in fact there was a handful. This thinking was utilized in his works for musical rituals.All the valuable material was the interview here with long a Stockhausen devotee Robin Maconie.

His entire life is here within these dicrete lectures discussing the/his primary works of this century,"Kontakte" where after grueling sessions for days with Gottfried Michael Koenig.tech assistant in Cologne,he informed him that "we need to do it all over again",also"Mikrophonie",(one of the first live electronic works to grace the world) excursions into momente form, intuitive music,word pieces "from the Seven last days", the hippie-like "Stimmung" "voicings" on a single chord, (very Germanic, Boulez had said.) Even the early music of "Zeitmasse" for five winds is talked about defined as "early lyric and dramatic" forms,Also the percussion solo"Zyklus".

Whatever you may think of Stockhausen he is a genius and music has not been the same since.(he at one time thought he commuted with extraterrestrial beings)

What's missing is excursions into the operas, "Licht" one( an opera)for each day of the week.

There is also a fantastic addendum list of selected 16 mm films made throughout Karlheinz's life with addresses supposedly where obtainable.This list includes excerpts, fragments from the FORMULA from "Licht". "Samstag" is available in colour. Also a complete discography and list of works, until 1988. When queried on what a new music students today needs??, the reply was stuff for the ears, exercises, like transcribing an unknown musical work onto paper,cold,right now,"Hoerbildung" something he did with his monumental "Hymnen". Also playing more than one instrument is preferable to only one, and singing in a choir is helpful. For composition he relates a time in Rome teaching 120 participants for 19 Days,where he had each write a "Formula",(a pre-compositional-like planning), from his own work at such structural lunar planning, he would then criticize, make suggestions,then when the actual work was done, Stockhausen would play them all himself,again highlighting where a bad rhythm, a bad note, a bad pause may occur.Acoustics should also be a requirement, and dancing, dance within anyone any kind, disco,folk,get down. He also has very practical advise on just writing music,saying for instance how a Boulez score makes him tear his hair out, being so(Boulez's scores) "overdetermined". and Boulez had a meticulous musical mind.

This is a wonderful capsule OF a great musical mind of this century, and perhaps for those to come.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring Thoughts of a Modern Musical Giant, May 26, 2001

By	Michael G. Mcneill "[e-mail]" (Rochester, NY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Looking back at the twentieth century, Stockhausen stands out as one of the most creative forces in music. In this book, the composer shares in prose his thoughts on the world and on music. He asserts his commitment to sound, and to the taking into account of all aspects of sound in his compositions. He also outlines his dreams of how music will relate to culture as a whole, how music will be presented, and the characteristics of future music. This book is, just as performances of his music are, an inspiration and a challenge to me as a composer and musician.

This is, though, just Stockhausen's hint as to the processes and content of his music. The real proof is in the music itself, which supersedes whatever anyone says about it.