The Classical Music Book

307

The BBC Symphony Orchestra

performs Gruppen for three orchestras

on a designated “Stockhausen Day”

at the BBC Proms in 2008, with Martyn

Brabbins, David Robertson, and Pascal

Rophé conducting.

See also: Pierrot lunaire 240–245 ■ Webern’s Symphonie, Op. 21 264–265 ■ Quartet for the End of Time 282–283 ■

Symphonie pour un homme seul 298–301

CONTEMPORARY

horseshoe shape, with one in front

of the audience, one to its left, and

one to its right. A huge variety of

sounds comes from these three

locations—delicate high woodwind,

passages of plucked strings, and

powerful assaults from the brass.

The three-orchestra format also

allows the composer to use musical

space dramatically, with the focus

of the audience’s interest passing

from one orchestra to another.

Material played by one ensemble

can be picked up by another or

tossed around between all three.

Deviations from form

The most dramatic moments in

Gruppen occur when Stockhausen

disregards the rigorous rules of

total serialism. Three passages in

particular abandon serial control of

tempo and range of notes in order

to produce musical climaxes—one

highlighting violin solos by the

three orchestral leaders, another

involving percussive or plucked

sounds that bounce from one

orchestra to another, and a third,

near the end of the work, featuring

Karlheinz Stockhausen

Stockhausen

was born in

the Cologne

region of

Germany in

1928 and

studied at Cologne University

of Music. He later took lessons

in Paris with Olivier Messiaen,

whose serial compositional

technique impressed him,

and with Pierre Schaeffer, from

whom he learned about musique

concrète. In 1953, he began

working at the electronic music

studio of WDR. This led to

wide-ranging works, from

Gruppen to electronic works

such as Kontakte (1958–1960).

His last great work before his

death in 2007 was Licht, a

cycle of seven operas.

Other key works

1955–1956 Gesang der Jünglinge

(“Song of the Youths”)

1958–1960 Kontakte (“Contacts”)

1968 Stimmung (“Voice”)

1977–2003 Licht (“Light”)

prominent brass chords and a piano

cadenza. Despite these deviations,

Stockhausen became known for his

formulaic composition—as well as

his experiments with spatialization,

which culminated in his Helicopter

String Quartet (1992–1995). ■

Whenever I felt happy

about having discovered

something, the first encounter

... with other musicians,

with specialists, etc, was

that they rejected it.

Karlheinz Stockhausen

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