Such a joyride of a piece, such a clever yet simple idea of a three-way game of ping-pong. The separation and then coming together of activity, tempos, sheer energies on display was breathtaking, although I think the textures weren't as strikng, because of that separation. Its a risk but Stockhausen pulls it off.
Nono's Canti was a good counterpart to that. Mini-groups, with the high note distributed among each of the 13 instruments. When these come together in 3/4 groups toward the end its such a rush. Its a real shame that Nono isn't as talked about as Stockhausen or Boulez or Cage.
― xyzzzz__, Sunday, 6 October 2013 21:09 (ten years ago) link
I hope I get to hear Gruppen live someday.
youtube finally gave me a chance to hear Sternklang. It's Stimmung + filters! It's great! It was always one of those 'later' pieces I was slightly afraid of, but I would have absolutely sprung for a Verlag copy of that during that window when Amoeba had them in stock.
― Milton Parker, Sunday, 6 October 2013 21:30 (ten years ago) link
This is my 2nd Gruppen but the first I've actually got the full effect, as it were. Bit of electric guitar in it of course!
Nono's Canti was a good counterpart
Yeah, this was great as was the other Nono piece. Also saw a couple of Xenakis percussion pieces (Okho + Psappha) (for free!), which were almost upstaged by a couple of toddlers who were in danger of joining the performers at several points.
― Tommy McTommy (Tom D.), Monday, 7 October 2013 08:05 (ten years ago) link
Also good to see Helmut Lachenmann wandering round at a few concerts - not exactly getting mobbed by screaming fans but having his hand shaken vigorously by several young and not so young fans
― Tommy McTommy (Tom D.), Monday, 7 October 2013 08:23 (ten years ago) link
Bit of electric guitar in it of course!
:)
This was actually a good bit of correction to his later reputation as a megalomaniac. The instruments here were sparingly used, not every passage was going for the shock and awe, you can really see his specific interest in the concert space, and how Kontakte was just as dramatic an use of that idea of surround space (at least on record, I didn't go to Saturday's but it should be easier to catch a perf of that).
― xyzzzz__, Monday, 7 October 2013 20:08 (ten years ago) link
I have only 2 memories of doing music o'level back in 1981: one of them was being played Kontakte by my music teacher. The other was her playing us the pistols followed by some romantic gloop and giving us aggression tests after each (the music was supposed to have the opposite effect to its intent, i.e. hearing rotten's snarl makes you feel LESS aggressive. The theory didn't work on us.) I wonder what the impact of Stockhausen would have been if she'd tried the test then.
― Dr X O'Skeleton, Monday, 7 October 2013 20:22 (ten years ago) link
'stimmung' really underrecommended as an introduction
― j., Saturday, 1 August 2015 17:12 (eight years ago) link
it would be a good record to give to kindergarten teachers
― j., Saturday, 1 August 2015 17:28 (eight years ago) link
Huh, I would think Stimmung would be THE go-to recommendation for anyone hesitant about Stockhausen.
― Michael F Gill, Saturday, 1 August 2015 17:38 (eight years ago) link
Anyone else go to Stimmung/Cosmic Pulses at the Barbican on Monday? The singers were all seated around a table with a huge glowing orb at the centre of it, Cosmic Pulses was like being in a washing machine with lasers flying all around you. I can't imagine it working at all without centrifugal sound but in that context, wow.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 22 November 2017 12:15 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eDgIaJtCk4
― Hans Holbein (Chinchilla Volapük), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 05:07 (three years ago) link
That's
Stockhausen: "Montag aus Licht" ("Monday of Light") documentary (1988) (English)
A half-hour documentary about the music and staging of Montag
― Hans Holbein (Chinchilla Volapük), Wednesday, 14 April 2021 05:08 (three years ago) link