Stockh.-STIMMUNGEN

Dear members,
I am shocked and disgusted.

Despite his composition in reference,
there exists a greatest terrorist.
And there exists, as well, the greates
musical charlatan/businessman.

Judge yourself:
FAZ
Monstrous Art
Julia Spinola

Four concerts featuring music by the German
avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen have been
cancelled, following the composer's distasteful, tactless
comments concerning the terrorist attacks on New York
and the Pentagon. The concerts were to have formed the
thematic focus of the Hamburg Music Festival, which
started last Saturday and continues through this Saturday.

Asked at a press conference on Monday for his view of
the events, Stockhausen answered that the attacks were
"the greatest work of art imaginable for the whole
cosmos." According to a tape transcript from public
broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk, he went on:
"Minds achieving something in an act that we couldn't
even dream of in music, people rehearsing like mad for
10 years, preparing fanatically for a concert, and then
dying, just imagine what happened there. You have
people who are that focused on a performance and then
5,000 people are dispatched to the afterlife, in a single

moment. I couldn't do that. By comparison, we
composers are nothing. Artists, too, sometimes try to go
beyond the limits of what is feasible and conceivable, so
that we wake up, so that we open ourselves to another
world."

Asked by a journalist whether he equated art and crime,
Stockhausen replied: "It's a crime because those involved
didn't consent. They didn't come to the 'concert.' That's
obvious. And no one announced that they risked losing
their lives. What happened in spiritual terms, the leap out
of security, out of what is usually taken for granted, out of
life, that sometimes happens to a small extent in art, too,
otherwise art is nothing."

Before the press conference was over, Stockhausen had
already distanced himself from these comments, a
spokeswoman for the Hamburg Music Festival said. On
Tuesday, the composer formally apologized for his
remarks, explaining that he simply wanted to remind
people of the role of destruction in art. Stockhausen
asked the forgiveness of anyone who felt hurt by what he
said at the press conference.

THIS DOES NOT CHANGE ANYTHING ANYMORE TO JUDGE
HIS ATTITUDE.

HERBERT ANTON KELLNER

Karlheinz Stockhausen is a thief
Simply ask La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela
So it does not surprise me that he equates Crime to Art

Pat Pagano, Director
South East Just Intonation Society
http://www.screwmusicforever.com/SHREESWIFT/
----- Original Message -----
From: <ha.kellner@t-online.de>
To: <tuning@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, September 21, 2001 3:58 AM
Subject: [tuning] Stockh.-STIMMUNGEN

> Dear members,
> I am shocked and disgusted.
>
> Despite his composition in reference,
> there exists a greatest terrorist.
> And there exists, as well, the greates
> musical charlatan/businessman.
>
> Judge yourself:
> FAZ
> Monstrous Art
> Julia Spinola
>
> Four concerts featuring music by the German
> avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen have been
> cancelled, following the composer's distasteful, tactless
> comments concerning the terrorist attacks on New York
> and the Pentagon. The concerts were to have formed the
> thematic focus of the Hamburg Music Festival, which
> started last Saturday and continues through this Saturday.
>
> Asked at a press conference on Monday for his view of
> the events, Stockhausen answered that the attacks were
> "the greatest work of art imaginable for the whole
> cosmos." According to a tape transcript from public
> broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk, he went on:
> "Minds achieving something in an act that we couldn't
> even dream of in music, people rehearsing like mad for
> 10 years, preparing fanatically for a concert, and then
> dying, just imagine what happened there. You have
> people who are that focused on a performance and then
> 5,000 people are dispatched to the afterlife, in a single
>
> moment. I couldn't do that. By comparison, we
> composers are nothing. Artists, too, sometimes try to go
> beyond the limits of what is feasible and conceivable, so
> that we wake up, so that we open ourselves to another
> world."
>
> Asked by a journalist whether he equated art and crime,
> Stockhausen replied: "It's a crime because those involved
> didn't consent. They didn't come to the 'concert.' That's
> obvious. And no one announced that they risked losing
> their lives. What happened in spiritual terms, the leap out
> of security, out of what is usually taken for granted, out of
> life, that sometimes happens to a small extent in art, too,
> otherwise art is nothing."
>
> Before the press conference was over, Stockhausen had
> already distanced himself from these comments, a
> spokeswoman for the Hamburg Music Festival said. On
> Tuesday, the composer formally apologized for his
> remarks, explaining that he simply wanted to remind
> people of the role of destruction in art. Stockhausen
> asked the forgiveness of anyone who felt hurt by what he
> said at the press conference.
>
> THIS DOES NOT CHANGE ANYTHING ANYMORE TO JUDGE
> HIS ATTITUDE.
>
> HERBERT ANTON KELLNER
>
>
>
>
>
> You do not need web access to participate. You may subscribe through
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>
>

--- In tuning@y..., ha.kellner@t... wrote:

/tuning/topicId_28408.html#28408

> Asked at a press conference on Monday for his view of
> the events, Stockhausen answered that the attacks were
> "the greatest work of art imaginable for the whole
> cosmos."

Hello Herbert...

I had mentioned this in one of my posts in passing... Yes, this
doesn't do much for the "cause" of contemporary or microtonal music,
for sure, since Stockhausen was definitely a microtonalist
(sometimes).

However, it is not all that surprising. When I met Stockhausen in
the mid 1970's he was already a supreme egotist and megalomaniac.
You could see it in his eyes. He was a little "nuts" even then.

HOWEVER, he *had* written some good works, like, in particular
_Gruppen_, _Stimmung_, and some of the earlier pieces, like
_Kontrapunkte_, _Kontacte_ (a great electronic piece), and at the
time I met him at Darmstadt he was banging the H*ll out of gongs...

This post is still "on topic" since, as many people know, many of his
early pioneering efforts were in microtonality, such as _Studie II_
and others, which used non-octave equivalence. See Brian McLaren's
_Microtonality, Past, Present, Future_ for more details.

Stockhausen visited San Francisco in the 1960's and that really did
something to him. My impression is that he ingested various chemical
substances with great vigor, and he was never quite the same
thereafter.

His works became *spectacular,* non-music, more theatrical than
anything.

Deutche Grammaphone dropped his contract. That was incredible in
itself, since he was considered at one point the *next great German
composer* which is, of course, always something thought about over
there... His CDs are still available, and he even has a website, but
he charges $80 per CD. He obviously believes he deserves to price
them this way. It seems that few people agree...

So if art=spectacle, I guess that's where he's getting off with
this... Although it is pretty amazing that he could say something
like this without considering the "humanitarian" consequences...

Of course, I don't really believe Stockhausen could ever have been
considered a "humanitarian..."

It was that look in his eyes.

For me, personally, a boycott is appropriate...

_________ __________ _____________
Joseph Pehrson

Jay here,
Wow! All that Stockhausen stuff is hard to respond to other than with sheer
amazement and sorrow. Nevertheless, one thing of his that I would earnestly
like to re-acquire is Region 4 of Hymnen. In spite of what he's now saying,
to me that piece is alsmost as powerful a "cry to God" as anything Messiaen
composed.
It would be too large an .mp3 file, I spose, so If someone has it and put
it on a CD along with something else they like, I'd be glad to make a music
trade.
And thanks to Johnny Reinhard for the Kalvos site. Some pretty remarkable
stuff there.
At 01:43 PM 9/21/01 -0000, you wrote:
>--- In tuning@y..., ha.kellner@t... wrote:
>
>/tuning/topicId_28408.html#28408
>
>> Asked at a press conference on Monday for his view of
>> the events, Stockhausen answered that the attacks were
>> "the greatest work of art imaginable for the whole
>> cosmos."
>
>Hello Herbert...
>
>I had mentioned this in one of my posts in passing... Yes, this
>doesn't do much for the "cause" of contemporary or microtonal music,
>for sure, since Stockhausen was definitely a microtonalist
>(sometimes).
>
>However, it is not all that surprising. When I met Stockhausen in
>the mid 1970's he was already a supreme egotist and megalomaniac.
>You could see it in his eyes. He was a little "nuts" even then.
>
>HOWEVER, he *had* written some good works, like, in particular
>_Gruppen_, _Stimmung_, and some of the earlier pieces, like
>_Kontrapunkte_, _Kontacte_ (a great electronic piece), and at the
>time I met him at Darmstadt he was banging the H*ll out of gongs...
>
>This post is still "on topic" since, as many people know, many of his
>early pioneering efforts were in microtonality, such as _Studie II_
>and others, which used non-octave equivalence. See Brian McLaren's
>_Microtonality, Past, Present, Future_ for more details.
>
>Stockhausen visited San Francisco in the 1960's and that really did
>something to him. My impression is that he ingested various chemical
>substances with great vigor, and he was never quite the same
>thereafter.
>
>His works became *spectacular,* non-music, more theatrical than
>anything.
>
>Deutche Grammaphone dropped his contract. That was incredible in
>itself, since he was considered at one point the *next great German
>composer* which is, of course, always something thought about over
>there... His CDs are still available, and he even has a website, but
>he charges $80 per CD. He obviously believes he deserves to price
>them this way. It seems that few people agree...
>
>So if art=spectacle, I guess that's where he's getting off with
>this... Although it is pretty amazing that he could say something
>like this without considering the "humanitarian" consequences...
>
>Of course, I don't really believe Stockhausen could ever have been
>considered a "humanitarian..."
>
>It was that look in his eyes.
>
>For me, personally, a boycott is appropriate...
>
>_________ __________ _____________
>Joseph Pehrson
>
>
>
>
>You do not need web access to participate. You may subscribe through
>email. Send an empty email to one of these addresses:
> tuning-subscribe@yahoogroups.com - join the tuning group.
> tuning-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com - unsubscribe from the tuning group.
> tuning-nomail@yahoogroups.com - put your email message delivery on hold
for the tuning group.
> tuning-digest@yahoogroups.com - change your subscription to daily digest
mode.
> tuning-normal@yahoogroups.com - change your subscription to individual
emails.
> tuning-help@yahoogroups.com - receive general help information.
>
>
>Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>
>

--- In tuning@y..., Jay Williams <jaywill@t...> wrote:
> Jay here,
> Wow! All that Stockhausen stuff is hard to respond to other than
> with sheer amazement and sorrow. Nevertheless, one thing of his that
> I would earnestly like to re-acquire is Region 4 of Hymnen. In spite
> of what he's now saying, to me that piece is alsmost as powerful a
> "cry to God" as anything Messiaen composed.
<snip>

It is available at http://www.audiogalaxy.com

John Starrett