Karlheinz Stockhausen – Stockhausen Edition 4: Kontra-Punkte, Zeitmasze, Stop, Adieu (1992)

The Stockhausen Edition 4 shows us Karlheinz coming more and more into his own. Which means that you're bound to hear some wildly original sounds - although, "wildly"? In spite of what one may think, there's nothing of the furious expressionist in Stockhausen. On the contrary, the booklet shows there's a well-educated theoretician at work; or in fact, a man who must have excelled in arithmetics when he was a boy at primary school, for counting numbers is what he does all the time. Not being a musician myself, the booklet is lost on me, I'm afraid.

Frank Horvat's photo at the back of the booklet shows us Stockhausen the conductor; if anything, the picture reveals the German's cocksureness. And he was, according to the father of a friend of mine, who worked with him at the Philips studios in Eindhoven: self-assured to the point of being incurably arrogant.
Well, at a later age he seems to have mellowed a bit. In the movie about the Helicopter String Quartet, which I uploaded last year, Stockhausen emerges as a friendly, engaging man - but never one who lost belief in self.

Tracklist

01. Kontra-Punkte [0:14:35.00]
02. Zeitmasze (Takt 1 bis 28) [0:02:04.40]
03. Zeitmasze (Takt 29 -) [0:00:42.30]
04. Zeitmasze (Takt 44 -) [0:00:49.42]
05. Zeitmasze (Takt 73 -) [0:01:29.30]
06. Zeitmasze (Takt 103 -) [0:01:35.33]
07. Zeitmasze (Takt 153 -) [0:02:16.17]
08. Zeitmasze (Takt 191 -) [0:00:53.03]
09. Zeitmasze (Takt 208 -) [0:00:38.07]
10. Zeitmasze (Takt 230 -) [0:01:01.25]
11. Zeitmasze (Takt 265 -) [0:03:49.73]
12. Stop (Abschnitt 1 bis 6) [0:03:14.50]
13. Stop (Abschnitt 6) [0:00:38.65]
14. Stop (Abschnitt 9) [0:01:36.05]
15. Stop (Abschnitt 12) [0:00:41.15]
16. Stop (Abschnitt 14) [0:01:46.42]
17. Stop (Abschnitt 16) [0:01:43.20]
18. Stop (Abschnitt 19) [0:04:11.18]
19. Stop (Abschnitt 26) [0:01:41.47]
20. Stop (Abschnitt 30) [0:01:11.58]
21. Stop (Abschnitt 34) [0:01:09.20]
22. Stop (Abschnitt 39) [0:03:05.35]
23. Adieu (Anfang) [0:03:45.35]
24. Adieu (Takt vor 3) [0:01:40.07]
25. Adieu (Abschnitt 7) [0:02:15.35]
26. Adieu (Takt vor 9) [0:03:45.50]
27. Adieu (Takt vor 10) [0:01:00.25]
28. Adieu (Abschnitt 18) [0:00:40.60]
29. Adieu (Abschnitt 26) [0:00:59.15]
30. Adieu (Abschnitt 30) [0:02:05.73]

Performers

Bassoon - William Waterhouse (tracks: 2 to 30)
Bassoon [Electric Bassoon] - John Orford (tracks: 12 to 22)
Cello - Michael Robinson (tracks: 12 to 22)
Cello [Electric Cello] - Christopher Van Kampen (tracks: 12 to 22)
Clarinet - Antony Pay (tracks: 2 to 30)
Clarinet [Bass Clarinet] - Roger Fallows (tracks: 12 to 22)
Composed By - Karlheinz Stockhausen (tracks: 1 to 30)
Conductor - Karlheinz Stockhausen (tracks: 1, 12 to 22)
English Horn - Robin Miller (tracks: 2 to 22)
Flute - Sebastian Bell (tracks: 2 to 30)
French Horn - John Butterworth (2) (tracks: 23 to 30)
Harp - Elizabeth Fletcher (tracks: 12 to 22)
Horn - John Butterworth (2) (tracks: 12 to 22)
Oboe - Janet Craxton (tracks: 2 to 30)
Orchestra - London Sinfonietta (tracks: 1 to 30)
Organ [Electric] - David Corkhill (tracks: 12 to 22)
Piano - John Constable (tracks: 12 to 22)
Saxophone [Alto] - Robin Thompson (2) (tracks: 12 to 22)
Synthesizer - Peter Britton (tracks: 12 to 22)
Synthesizer [Electronium] - Harald Bojé (tracks: 12 to 22)
Trombone - David Purser (tracks: 12 to 22)
Trumpet - Jon Miller (tracks: 12 to 22)
Vibraphone - James Holland (tracks: 12 to 22)
Violin - Marcia Crayford (tracks: 12 to 22)