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- CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE
WEEK
- Karlheinz Stockhausen "Gesang Der Jünglinge / Kontakte" rec. 1955-1960, stereo LP released 1968 (Germany)
- Karlheinz
Stockhausen, one of the most important musical figures of the 20th
century, passed away on December 5, 2007. Along with John Cage, he
was one of the most famous of the last century's "avant garde"
composers, though his influence was arguably much greater.
Stockhausen was among the first to compose with electronically
synthesized sounds, and produced work in 4 and 5 channel surround sound
in the 1950's, before stereo was even popular! (Thus introducing
"space" as a musical effect -- a later work Gruppen was
scored for three orchestras surrouding the audience.) In the
1960's he had a profound influence on such psychedelic luminaries
as the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, and
even Miles Davis. He was also the patron saint of the entire
"krautrock" movement of the 1970's, in particular the more conceptual
groups like Kraftwerk and Faust (though ironically the jam bandish Can
had the most direct connection, Holger Czukay and Michael Karoli having
both been his students.) Thus Stockhausen is truly the
godfather of both "psychedelic" and "electronic" music. This
Deutsche Grammophon LP from 1968 was the first release of two of his
most
important multi-channel electronic works in stereo.
- Here is a cool artsy video collage using Kontakte as a soundtrack, and here's part of a lecture by Stockhausen on "sounds" from 1972. Without a doubt, the coolest German of the 20th Century!
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