Not that I’d been following his career recently, but I do report with sadness the passing of a unique character in the world of music.
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a true weirdo, in the best sense of the term. He made waves of all types, from declaring that he was educated “on Sirius”, which would presumably mean he wasn’t human, Sirius being a star rather than a planet, to composing the world’s longest opera.
The logistical demands of the 29-hour long work are staggering. For just one section alone, entitled “Helikopter-Streichquartett” (Helicopter String Quartet), a string quartet hovers in four different helicopters above the concert hall, with audio and video feeds relayed to the audience below.
You can see why you’d need one helicopter for each of the quartet’s members. Can’t you?
I first heard his works in my first year of college. The professor who played them in class also introduced me to John Cage. One of my proudest achievements was building a relationship with that professor that led to one class on the blues and another on early jazz, both huge hits among the student body, mostly for the music but perhaps also for the intoxicants and the social scene. I miss him. Now I can miss Stockhausen along with him.
