Karlheinz Stockhausen | Artist

Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German electronic composer born 1928 in Mödrath. It has been widely acknowledged by critics and musicologists that Stockhausen was one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He was educated at the Hochscchule für Musik Köln and the University of Cologne, later studying with Olivier Messiaen in Paris. One of the leading figures of the Darmstadt School, along with contemporary Pierre Boulez, his compositions and theories became widely influential, not only on composers of art music, but also on jazz and popular music. His works, composed over a period of nearly sixty years, avoid traditional forms. In addition to electronic music — both with and without live performers — they range from miniatures for musical boxes through works for solo instruments, songs, chamber music, choral and orchestral music, to a cycle of seven full-length operas. He received numerous prizes and distinctions for his compositions, recordings, and for the scores produced by his publishing company. Up to his death in 2007, Stockhausen released 88 albums of his work, either as performer or conductor/performer. Outstanding recordings include Gesang der Jünglinge, Aus den sieben Tagen, Dienstag aus Licht, Stimmung and Kontakte. Stockhausen was also influential within pop and rock music circles. Frank Zappa acknowledges Stockhausen in the liner notes of Freak Out!, Rick Wright and Roger Waters of Pink Floyd also acknowledge Stockhausen as an influence, as did San Francisco psychedelic groups Jefferson Airplane and Grateful Dead. Founding members of Cologne-based band Can, Irmin Schmidt and Holger Czukay, both studied with Stockhausen at the Cologne Courses for New Music, as did German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk. The Beatles included Stockhausen's face on the cover of Sgt. Peppers in recognition of his influence on their own avant-garde experiments, as well as the general fame and notoriety he had achieved by that time. In particular, the tracks "A Day in the Life" and "Revolution 9" were influenced by Stockhausen's electronic music. Stockhausen, along with John Cage, is one of the few avant-garde composers to have succeeded in penetrating the popular consciousness. Stockhausen's name, and the perceived strangeness and supposed unlistenability of his music, was even a punchline in cartoons. Perhaps the most caustic remark about Stockhausen was attributed to Sir Thomas Beecham. Asked "Have you heard any Stockhausen?", he is alleged to have replied, "No, but I believe I have trodden in some."

Artist Website: wikipedia/Karlheinz_Stockhausen

Featured Albums: Karlheinz Stockhausen

Related Artists: Markus Stockhausen, Simon Stockhausen

Collections: Music Visionaries