Stockhausen's Musical Shapes

Karlheinz Stockhausen's music defies convention, and
hence
standard analytical techniques are not enough to
approach a full
understanding of this colorful and profound
repertory. This book
provides a new pictorial approach to illuminate
structures of spatial
designs on the surface and at deeper structural
levels within two of
Stockhausen's masterworks, chosen as examples of his
formative
and mature styles respectively: Gruppen (1957) and
Oktophonie
(1991). In both his acoustic and electronic
compositions,
Stockhausen found ways of creating sounds that
seemingly fly
around the performance space. This study addresses
just how these
"magic spots" of aural illusion were crafted in these
two works, and,
with Gruppen in particular, assesses the importance
of the sole
electric guitar part in the three-orchestra texture
and shows how
Stockhausen wove his own signature into the row
design (a
discovery that has so far gone unnoticed by
scholars). This book
should be especially interesting to music theorists,
composers,
guitarists, those who enjoy post-tonal music or code
breaking, and
anyone who follows the career of the great German master
composer Karlheinz Stockhausen.

Autorentext

Sara Overholt, Ph.D.: music theory, classical guitar, holds degrees
from UC Santa Barbara, Yale, and CSU Chico, studied at the
Sorbonne, Paris on a Mellon grant, and University of Cologne,
Germany as a Fulbright Scholar. Dr. Overholt has performed in
over 35 countries, and is adjunct assistant professor at Hunter
College of CUNY in New York City.

Klappentext

Karlheinz Stockhausen's music defies convention, and
hence
standard analytical techniques are not enough to
approach a full
understanding of this colorful and profound
repertory. This book
provides a new pictorial approach to illuminate
structures of spatial
designs on the surface and at deeper structural
levels within two of
Stockhausen's masterworks, chosen as examples of his
formative
and mature styles respectively: Gruppen (1957) and
Oktophonie
(1991). In both his acoustic and electronic
compositions,
Stockhausen found ways of creating sounds that
seemingly fly
around the performance space. This study addresses
just how these
"magic spots" of aural illusion were crafted in these
two works, and,
with Gruppen in particular, assesses the importance
of the sole
electric guitar part in the three-orchestra texture
and shows how
Stockhausen wove his own signature into the row
design (a
discovery that has so far gone unnoticed by
scholars). This book
should be especially interesting to music theorists,
composers,
guitarists, those who enjoy post-tonal music or code
breaking, and
anyone who follows the career of the great German master
composer Karlheinz Stockhausen.