Customer Reviews

Stockhausen: Stimmung

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is an astounding work by one of the true masters of the post-WWII avant-garde. Stockhausen often worked with massive (and complex) forces, but here, all we find are six unadorned voices, gradually chanting their way through a litany of sacred names, erotic verse, meditative intonations, all utilizing only the harmonics of a single root B-flat tone that can be produced by the human voice. There are many people that think that washing synths, twiddly melodies, and overdubbed whales makes for 'New Age'...but "Stimmung" really sounds like some mysterious, just-beyond-comprehension ceremony from some time not yet reached. Singcircle's performance here is perhaps the best I've heard, also, with very exacting (and rigorous) performance capabilities in evidence. And having some familiarity myself with how overtone singing works, I can say that the effort which the ensemble makes here is truly leviathan, monumental, and all the more astounding for its accomplishment!

The singers are all top-class, and the recording technique superb, but I still prefer the older recordings with the Collegium Vocale Köln (2 versions in Stockhausen-Edition CD12), who premiered "Stimmung" in the late 1960's. The reason is that the Collegium Vocale singers seemed to have a very good time when singing and the piece progresses spontaneously (note that in this piece the singers have to make decisions almost all the time during each performance). On the other side, the Singcircle singers seem to be always very, very concentrated, but they take the music too seriously, and even the funny interludes when "erotic" verses by Stockhausen are recited are performed as if they were written for the Church. If you really like this music you should have both recordings.

Karlheinz Stockhausen, one of the more experimental geniuses of contemporary music has died, and though he was highly regarded in his lifetime for his 'invention' of electronic music and pushing the barriers of aural experimentation to limits beyond the imagination of most other composers, his legacy is yet to be fully appreciated.

For the novice whose musical experience has not encountered Stockhausen, this DC of the STIMMUNG as performed by the Singcircle is likely as simple a beginning as any. Rather than being composed for his unique combination of 'instruments', this fascinating work was composed for the human voice in response to ancient concepts and images and ideas - part of the mystical mind of the master composer. This is music for the soul and the imagination and does not demand anything more from the listener than release of physical constraints to open the mind to the planes of experience unknown to many of us until Karlheinz Stockhausen opened the windows. A beautiful recording and an appropriate requiem for a true genius. Grady Harp, December 07

I feel many listeners would agree that Stimmung is far more accessible to the average listener than Stochausen's other works.Some listeners,however, who valued Stockhausen's lack of repitition,may be disappointed.I for one feel it is more akin to the more minimal works of Glass/Reich in that its structure poses more of a developmental process than his works inclined towards 'chance'-still this is not for your average listener and might appear very strange indeed.More problematic than the still non-repetitive structure is the strict adherence to solo-instrumentation-namely, the human voice.This does not mean to say that this is for fans of choral music-the use of the voice veers more toward chanting than singing.-Still 5 stars from me.

Stockhausen's career was one of monumental & protean experimentation. Who might have expected that the man who composed music as chaotic as Kontakte would also compose music with notes as solidly organised as Stimmung? My friend who is a fellow fan of Stockhausen thinks of Stimmung as "his silly piece." It's so accessible that it's very fun too -- unusual for him. Stimmung was inspired by time Stockhausen spent in Mexico where he would sit on a rock for hours staring at ruins, noticing how they were slightly out pf phase.... He also experienced being different indigenous peoples or a Spaniard & relived their religious ceremonies, which could be quite cruel, but (as he wrote) "religious cruelty isn't in Stimmung, only sounds."

I love this CD and I rate it 5 stars. However, it is a composition that defies any form of rating system, as it is so unlike anything else out there. If the word 'Alternative' were ever to be used appropriately, it would be for the great Karlheinz Stockhausen. What is remarkable about this recording is that there is nothing heard other than human voices. I am so thankful for Hyperion records for releasing these sorts of works that most companies would dimiss as unmarketable. While it may take a while to get really into Stimmung, something will grab you right away. It's just so totally unlike anything alse you have ever heard.

Stockhausen explains in the liner notes that composing this piece was part of a very spiritually moving experience for him in Aztec ruins. He liked looking at repeating forms ruins that were slightly out of phase, & for me, this music is alternately the slow grass, the carved stones, & the clean air. This whole vocal piece moves fluidly with a basic structure of repetition & electronic innovation. The music, too, is so unique! Stockhausen really is an incredibly, amazingly creative person, a great composer. This piece, with its own personal sense of coherence, is different from much other work of his.

I bought this a couple of years ago and it has remained a strong favourite of mine. Songcircle sing this work with great style and commitment and make the harmonic singing sound very beautiful. The work features all the things we know and love about Stockhausen, including the composer's whimsical sense of humour.

I strongly recommend this disc even to those who are not normally fans of TwenCen music.

This work, Carré, Gruppen and Mantra [also by Stockhausen] are amongst my favourites at the moment.

What a fascinating composer is Herr Stockhausen!

Karleinze proves his genius yet again in this charming Sing Circle performance of Stimmung. This recording shows the world's most dynamic instrument, the human voice, in all of its brilliance. The sound world that this recording creates is truly mind boggling in its beauty and uniqueness.

It was almost inevitable that Stockhausen became transformed by the spirits and gods of the world. He was an early imaginative avaricious creator of the post-war generation claiming his territory early with humungus works and an almost corporate-like agenda for writing music. All this music are avant-garde classics now, the "Gruppen" for three orchestras, the various "klavierstuck" piano pieces,"Hymnen",electronic music all have broken innovative ground and music has not been the same since. If you ever become bitten by the stockhausen-bug it is for life unlike say the Beatles. Stockhausen's gaze over humanity included not only boughts with complexity,where he had( like a scientist with a microscope) controlled and projected every parameter of music under his tutilege,but he was an overt opportunist,seeing himself inside every cultural faze and product around. "Stimmung" or "Voicings" or "Tunings" was his ode to the anti-war movement in the late Sixties,at least to the spirits that were around then and is an intense East-West dialogue. It's a masterpiece if we can still call it that today. The six vocalists here sit in a hippy-like circle intoning the names of gods from various cultures,Vishnu, and those from the lost Indian Tribes of North and South America. The vocalists use their heads as resonators taking full advantage of the resultant overtone structures of the group. You need to devote a year of your life to learning it, so double Bravo! to Singcircle if you are a performer. The effect is spellbinding, and if you ever listened to world music, this is for you, it is a bit long if this is your first visit to Stockhausen's theme-parks But this is a ritual, a sacrifice, so let yourself go,you may not come back the same, and visit a spirit god, hopefully not Stockhausen,but his music.