Sunday, December 16, 2007

R.I.P.: Karlheinz Stockhausen

Karlheinz Stockhausen (composer)
(b: 22.Aug.1928, Mödrath/Germany; d: 5.Dec.2007, Kürten/Germany)

The German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen died December 5th. Stockhausen who was a regular lecturer at the legendary Darmstadt holiday courses for contemporary music combined electronic sounds with the human voice and musical instruments since the early 1950s. His avantgarde compositions were of influence also outside the world of contemporary composition and could be felt in the music of Miles Davis, Björk or the Grateful Dead. His face was on the cover of the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band". His reputation was damaged by a statement made after the terrorist attacks of September 11th which he compared to a work of art, a statement for which he fully apologized later. Obituaries:
Washington Post, Süddeutsche Zeitung, New York Times, The Independent.

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