Download 144 free sheet music and scores:stockhausen, Sheet music, scores. Stockhausen - Taurus, für Fagott (aus Tierkreis). Contemporary music score. Author: ipersfera. 4 downloads 28 Views 178KB Size. Recommend Documents.
In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content: I. Book Reviews Review Panel: Kent Dewereaux,Nick Didkowsky, Richard Friedman, Mipel Frasconi,AnthonyJ. Gnauo, Jim Horton, Van@Mawm‘ck,TimPerkis, Lany Polansky, CarterScholz, Peter Yadlowsky,Richard Zwonar. MANTRA by Karlheinz Stockhausen. New Albion Records NA025,1990. CONVERSATIONSWITH STOCKHAUSEN by Mya Tannenbaum.
David Butchart, trans. Press, Oxford, U.K, 1987. Trade, $24.95. TOWARDS A COSMIC MUSIC: TE?LTS BY KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN Tim Nevill, ed.
Element Books, London, U.K., 1989.Paper, $9.95. ISBN: 1-85230-084-1. THE WORKS OF KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN, 2nd Ed.
By Robin Maconie. Press, Oxford, U.K., 1990.480 pp., illus.
Trade, $49.95. ISBN: 0-71452887 -0. STOCKHAUSEN ON MUSIC compiled by Robin Maconie. Marion Boyars, London, U.K., 1989.224 pp.
Trade, $25.00. ISBN: 0-71452887-0. Reviewed by Richard Friedman, P. 0.Box 9584, Berkelq, 01 94709, U.S.A.
Stockhausen’sMantra has been recorded only once before (DGG 2530208),in 1971.That recording, by Aloysand AlfonsKontarsky, quickly disappeared, like most of the 100or so pre-compact-disc (CD) era vinyl disks of ‘Stockhawenmusik’on Deutsche Grammaphon that were realized under the composer’sobsessive supervision. It is not clear why there have been no digital reissues, for there are treasures in DGG’svaultseverything from GesangderJunglinge (19551, through Momente (1964) and Hymnen (1967),to Sirius (1977).Perhaps Stockhausen’spreoccupation with his mammoth seven-operacycle Licht, begun in 1977,is partly to blame. However,some of the smaller works have been recorded recently by a new generation of performers outside the Group Stockhausen.Their effort to reintroduce this composer’s pre-Licht legacy to a new audience should be applauded. Already there are multiple releases of his early piano pieces (KlawierstuckeI-XI, 1954-56), as well as selectionsfrom Aus den sieben Tagen (1968) and Tierkreis (1976).And a few of his percussion pieces, including Kontakte (1960),have been recorded on CD by variousgroups. New Albion’s 1990release of a spectacular performance of Mantra by pianistsYvar Mikhashoff and Rosalind Bevan (recorded in 1986in Oslo) is a valuable addition to the list. Mantra (1970),for two pianists who also must play antique cymbals, wood blocks, a tape recorder and ring modulators, is truly a Stockhausen masterpiece that clearlyconcentrates much of his thinking and experimentation of the 1960s.
It also represents a new compositional practice, the ‘sound-formula’,developedfrom ideas found in some earlier works (especially Momente ), which now dominates his work. What does Stockhausen mean by ‘formula’,and how does it function in Mantra? Unfortunately, the notes included in the New Albion CD are of no real help. Stockhausen’sown brief explanation on the old DGG record jacket was excellent, and a more complete discussion can be found in Jonathan Cott’s book of conversations with the composer, published in 1973.Stockhausen’sformula technique is a way of composingself.imilar structures out of a generating form. Thisgeneratingform is ‘themantra’a 13-note sequence of pitches and durations arranged into four mirrored sections (‘limbs’)that is heard at the very start of the piece (measures 3-8) in the first piano.
Superimposed on the mantraformula are 13‘characteristics’or figurations that are attached to each note of the sequence. With 12ways to expand the material in the sequence and 13x 12 pitch transpositions,a large number of formal cycles are possible, all based on the generating function of the mantra. Stockhausen cautions that Mantra (the piece) is not a theme with variations. Rather, the mantra (the formula) “isnot varied;not a single note is added, nothing is ‘accompanied ’, ornamented, etc. The ‘Mantra’alwaysstays itself, and appears in its twelvefoldness,with its 13characteristics”. Yet another overlay in the process results from the use of ring modulators to generate new harmonic relationships out of the pitches of the formula. Each pianist controls electronics that alter the amplified sound of the piano in predictable but complex ways.
The transformations of the sound are centered on each of the 13 notes of the mantra. The score is impressive.Every note is written out in traditional notation, indicating a return from the graphical and verbal scores of his earlier ‘intuitive ’ music. The formal operations can be analyzed,but in listening, few are apparent.