Stockhausen Interview

[@jlapierremusic]

...'No.' I miss Stockhausen

[@whitex4652]

Best answer ever.

[@FCarraro1]

"Stockhausen rarely gives interviews" ...if you search "Stockhausen interview" there's a ton of material. He was very present in the academic world and in music industry, and there are even a lot of whole lectures of his. We are not talking about Scelsi or Sorabji....but journalists always tend to exaggerate their achievements..

[@cassianowogel]

Oh the interviewer really must have thought his questions were amazing, but in fact there was a total lack of tune between him and Stockhausen. It seems like the guy wasn't seeing or questioning Stockhausen at all, and was only able to address a distorted image that he had previously created about the composer.

[@comprehensiveboy]

Yes you are right. He was starting only from a sort of caracature of what the so called avant garde is, insisting that Stockhausen be perceived as an outsider, but he was a sincere classical composer inside the tradition.

[@nikolaseros344]

It was so lame when the reporter cut him off when he started to talk about how he related to the 2nd Viennese school. Seemed like he had a lot to say.

[@whitex4652]

The interviewer is plainly a bit stupid, uneducated and uniformed.

[@heteronomyisthecondition]

Stockhausen on his own legacy: "i didn't break anything... I just left it as it is. but I added a lot of new works... there is enough to study now for centuries to add this to the traditional music. (breaking eachother's work) that is respect-less and I don't like that at all." love how Stockhausen maintains in this interview!

[@bernab]

It was a wonderful answer.

[@ivanmont]

No

[@kahanalu1]

Before they became famous, the Beatles played in Hamburg, Germany, for eight solid weeks in August 1960 at two or three clubs. Both Paul McCartney and John Lennon liked avant garde music. Paul looked up Stockhausen, turned John Lennon on to him. Stockhausen turned both Beatles on to electronic music. Soon everyone on the cutting edge of music was trading in their acoustical instruments for electronic pianos, bass, guitars, and saxophones. Soon Beatles music was being played by jazz musicians with electronic instruments. Stockhausen is a major influence in music and sound. He is genius.

[@blorkpovud1576]

6:30 "I didn't break anything. I just left it as it is." Great comeback. And true as well.

[@f1lab535]

you wasted a great opportunity to interview him.

[@YouzTube99]

This reminds me of an incident that occurred in the late 70s when I managed a high-end stereo store in Ann Arbor, Michigan. We carried the Carver Holographic preamp. A group of grad students from U of M came with a stack of records to test it. One was Stockhausen's 'Gesang der Jünglinge' on DG. In one section, the voice image moved dramatically up and down; it was so obvious that everyone noticed it. They freaked. "How the hell did he do that?" they demanded. I never figured it out.

[@MaestroTJS]

The greatest part of this interview is the fact that you just know the interviewer spent hours, maybe days, thinking of what to ask first and expecting a nice, long answer to the most brilliant thing he could come up with, only to be shot down in flames. Hilarious.

[@akashboinpally4389]

Hahahaha

[@jessicagoesonmind4477]

😂and know i roll a spliff with his grandson. And we laugh and miss his grandvater. He was a kind Person. Bless

[@santiagoortega5187]

Go to the kitchen b1tch

[@StockyScoresRaoraPantheraFC]

You met Simon? What's he like as a person?

[@eyuin5716]

It’s crazy that this KZbin video got uploaded when Stockhausen was still alive. Rest In Peace You Mad Genius

[@SaccidanandaSadasiva]

After Webern my new obsession is Stockhausen. I love him!

[@ketchup143]

he actually makes opera sound exciting. i'd go see it.

[@anaklasis]

Rest in peace. I met him when I was 17. It was such a revelation for me. First Berio, then Ligeti. Now Stockhausen. I'm very sad today.

[@JohnBock-nq9lr]

Check out Sun Ra

[@tomsega]

When we reach the age of perhaps 12 or 13, most of us come to realise that the question "what is your favourite colour" is ridiculous, because all other colours in the spectrum are necessary to give meaning. Similarly the meanings of words in a language are formed only in opposition to other words. That's why, I think, "what is the most beautiful sound" is a fucking stupid question to ask. Certainly a self absorbed artsy fartsy thing to ask as an OPENING question!!

[@pepijnstreng4643]

If you're interested in a good interview with Stockhausen, I'd recommend his conversation with Björk, that's not so hard to find on Google (just search for 'Björk Stockhausen interview').

[@jatwell55]

AT the very beginning, the piece the three musicians are performing is called "Refrain", written in 1959. It was originally scored for piano, percussion and celeste, but as you can see, the celeste has been replaced by a synth using a celeste bank. Better balance of sound.

[@eduardoflorestheremin]

R.I.P. A great maestro, a real genius, we'll miss you

[@TaoLeaf]

mmlight is so right... I am a lonely math student who listens to Stockhausen, I really love his music, and I consider him a genius. I would just like to add that I have friends who study either Physics, Psychology or Law, and they share my point of view, and enjoy his music a lot too, so, not only math students, but other college students listen to him.

[@matthewbertram3304]

I feel for the interviewer. More than likely used to interviewing bands like Oasis or Coldplay, probably flung into this with short notice and no knowledge of Stockhausen's work prior.

[@anonymous-cq7wj]

thank you! finally a reasonable comment

[@Jshaw1ful]

Who knows what genius work he could have written with those 11 minutes

[@wormswithteeth]

His 300 pieces will do fine. Thanks :)

[@cliveso]

Just what is the difference between "sound design" and "sound organised in time"? Are you not playing with words? Like "interior design" and "furnitures organised in space"? "It takes a talented musician who loves what he's doing to make music." So that's Stockhausen. The fact that he composed hundreds of pieces is enough to show that he liked what he was doing.

[@luisgonzalezgarridosax]

Really interesting. Thank you very much for this content!

[@diegodaft]

un genio total. El maestro stockhausen es un compositor extraordinario que ayuda con su intelecto y con su musicalidad a elaborar cada dia mas lo mas hermoso que tiene el ser humano " la musica".

[@MorbidMayem]

Stockhausen or the art to stay calm when confronted to an idiot.

[@fliegeroh]

The last time Stockhausen saw his father (a German soldier on leave from the front) was in 1945. His father told him "I'm not coming back, take care of things." And his father was soon thereafter listed as missing in action. What a terrible burden of sorrow that entire generation had to bear.

[@NewMusicXX]

Very fine! I enjoyed the program!!

[@destroyernoah]

I like how he says "Nineteen-Hundred Fifty-One"

[@schadowizationproductions6205]

It's a normal way of saying a year in German.

[@mendali]

That's a good point. The intellectualizing and the experiencing of the music are pretty separate. Different tastes in music give us something to talk about I guess.

[@cognimuse]

I was waiting for Woody Allen and Marshall McLuhan to appear and tell off the interviewer.

[@giordanopagotto7940]

When a documentary about Stockhausen emphasises his "presence on the cover of Sgt. Peppers" you know it's going to be mediocre

[@MarcoBeatles]

Why?

[@sunsioux444]

Because the Beatles were a creation of MI6

[@remotefaith]

Grace What? Why? What?

[@morissmor]

@@remotefaith Yeah, it's true. Mindblowing.

[@nandocordeiro5853]

No, you’ve got it all wrong. Everyone knows the beatles and the mention of him on the cover goes to show how Stockhausen is more accessible than most people think.

[@justinmelland3846]

Such a wonderful man Karlheinz was.

[@nimragguram6844]

I spent a week of study with him 1986! Great.

[@fcoclarinete]

oh, what a waste of M. Stockhausen's time.

[@sebastianzaczek]

Stockhausen seems to be really shy and introverted in the interview... in my opinion

[@a.s.vanhoose1545]

If this interviewer would of interviewed Mozart his first question would be ‘what’s your favorite color’?

[@grahamstevenson1740]

Very interesting, great stuff.

[@bernardranreb]

I think that is Refrain (1956) for piano, percussion, celesta) in a new version called 3x Refrain (2000) which replaces the celesta with a sampler keyboard. The performers also make some vocals during the piece. The video also edits together sections from several of other pieces.

[@FedericoPala]

The first question is like: what is your favorite Minecraft block? So much cringe.

[@maredjurphy]

my favorite Minecraft block is the note block

[@segmentsAndCurves]

@@maredjurphy Jazz!

[@dschkn]

Ahahaahh😂😂😂 yes!

[@ADURG1]

wonderful...thanks for sharing!

[@MrJackTrades]

The awkward eye flutter when his first question fails miserably is still such a great bit of unintentional physical comedy

[@oaktadopbok665]

Stockhausen was an influence on the Beatles. Paul McCartney introduced Stockhausen’s work to the group, turning John Lennon into a fan; Lennon and Yoko Ono even sent the composer a Christmas card in 1969. He appears on the Sgt. Pepper album cover, 5th from the left in the top row, between Lenny Bruce and W.C. Fields.

[@guyamit531]

Oh.... He thinkgs he's an alien... that explains a lot!

[@yourforte]

Yes I agree that the ear is connected to the mind.I didn't really mean that it's possible to experience sound without intellectualising it-although I think this is indeed possible.The music we hear is always contextualised,however,and if by intellectualising we take it out of the context it becomes aurally incomprehensible. Anyway, I'm happy for you that your own ear finds this pleasing. As a music student years ago I used to pretend I liked it but now, as a middle-aged person I just come clean.

[@yourforte]

Well the major scale has its foundations in the acoustical properties of notes. The major chord can be found in the overtones to a fundamental note. Tonality as it is used to structure music is to some extent artificial because it depends on well-tempered tuning to allow modulation. For whatever reason anyway, we do feel at home in tonality. The ear likes tonality - that's why it's finding its way across the globe and why we allow ourselves to 'get used to it' (if that is the correct phrase).

[@vaspers]

Fuck melody. Fuck rhythm. Fuck tradition. "Noise is sound cured of its disease which is music." - composer Steven E. Streight. CONGRATULATIONS. Today this video was selected by the New Musiology blog archiving avant garde, noise, and experimental musics.

[@audiovideo-w6o]

This is a great interview, not sure what the fuss is about in the comments.

[@Ericstlaurent]

Thank you for posting this. Someone a bit more informed and respectful would have done a better job at interviewing this important figure of modern music, though

[@gunnsgthartman]

The interviewer is getting on my nerves.

[@kphoenix5942]

2:12 is excellent. Never have so few syllables caused so much fail.

[@pastraga]

Yes, there indeed is. His music is not being overrated. Don't give up at the first difficulty - keep trying and you'll be able to realize the beauty of his works. Higher art is not always the most accessible.

[@bluntsafety]

Maybe they should have had a beer with the conversation, but I don't mind it if some simple questions are asked. I have a favorite sound. Ice bergs.

[@honslo9263]

Very remarkable and influential person! It is a shame that he is currently omitted given the feeble number of views of his works on KZbin.

[@archaic9525]

you do not listen to a Stockhausen piece with a youtube standard streaming quality

[@maestro1286]

The basic fundamental definition of music is sound organized in time... which Stockhausen does very well. Music is sound, but how can sound not be music if organized in a logical manner?

[@bluntsafety]

Hard to describe the sound of ice bergs. Like a fluttering distortion. Grinding and fluttering. I love your example of beauty. The Disney crowd will take offense.

[@holokinesis]

the subdominant figure is not that present in the overtones. The only way you could say so it's that the overtones go for a dominant chord (of sorts), so actually what we do have is the dominant, an unstable sound - for what are ears are used to. and what about modality?

[@alejandrosotomartin9720]

Karlheinz are you talking Siriusly?

[@WhatsThisThenLucchiSupremeson]

rest in peace!

[@oldjack-mi8gk]

Can brought me here.

[@mendali]

Well, the ear is connected with the mind. I think what you mean is that it's possible to experience sound without intellectualizing it, which I think is correct. However I find Stockhausen's music to be both pleasing to the ear and stimulating to the imagination and intellect, and I think that any music can be approached in this way. It's up to the individual whether or not to "like" the way something sounds.

[@rezashia3135]

It was brilliant the way he terminated that silly interview, it’s as though he was thinking ‘enough of your BS assumptions and ridiculous questions, time to get back to my music making’!

[@knox.gunterstallbauer6877]

STOCKHAUSEN hat sehr spannende musik geschaffen, die mir gefällt.

[@yourforte]

Yes, I agree for the most part. I think it IS important that composers challenge us on an artistic level. I'm not disputing anyone else's right to enjoy this. I personally, however, would prefer to hear organised pitch - and probably organised via tonality. I don't mean that composers ought to be producing cheap pastiche but that music should be pleasing (in some sense) to the ear. It loses its capacity to express the whole gamut of what music through the centuries has been able to express

[@yourforte]

It's one thing to push boundaries, it's another to pretend they aren't there

[@archaic9525]

this is a KHS-worthy comment, great, thx

[@hardercorky]

exacto, esa es la razón por la cual no da muchas entrevistas aparentemente.

[@mmlight]

I'm so glad AFX corrected the old man about making dance music. KHS wrote seminal works like Zyklus but had no concept of modern electronic music. Apples and oranges.

[@MutantsInDisguise]

Can't believe this interview was one year before Stockhausen's very death.

[@georgeholloway3981]

Truly preposterous interview.

[@benpowell5007]

"Computer says NO"

[@James-so8du]

This is great!

[@wormswithteeth]

it would have been great to know whta his answer would have been for the first question.

[@futilityroom]

There was an hour long BBC programme on Stockhausen circa 1997. Does anyone have a clip?

[@omgtkseth]

Its like if the interviewer knew nothing of music, only about generic lifestyle interviews. And Stocky was always awkward, he was never very articulate in his thought, in the logical way, as if he turned off the language thought process, and was left only with music, and when he opens his mouths it sounds as an awful spokesman. Stocky talks art, while the interviewer talks about the achievements of his art.

[@davida.rosales6025]

I think he was just normal. Everyone expects that "intelligent" people must be great orators. I think he made perfect sense here.

[@markopetrusic9613]

mit freundlichen grüssen vom Jazz Club Mezzoforte aus Laibach, Slowenien, EU.

[@egapnala65]

Er...Percussion only plays a TINY part of his output. More important is his Superformula method of composing, his exploration of vocal harmonics, his experiments in multidirectional sound etc etc. To diss him merely on the grounds he didn't use a beat box is profoundly silly really. When the beatbox brigade acheive a third of what KS did (including Octaphonic sound projection) then they may have a point. Until then...... A

[@KeyAliceSun]

Yeah, he actually used 4 mics. Some of his earliest pieces used 5 or 4 speakers.

[@morelli6]

yes, they aren't. it is to each person to decide whether it is or it is not music. I'm saying that it's important to hear composers like stokchausen to open our minds to other elements that otherwise we wouldn't notice or other composers that we wouldn't appreciate because we feel they are way too modern e.g.: messiaen, takemitsu. It's important to hear different kinds of music even if one doesn't like it.

[@fabioguglielmo4196]

Too many words 9/10 - IGN

[@finaldestination5847]

His music is very difficult to diguest...

[@racon]

just found on e-mule another one to be uploaded soon ...

[@mahakala]

the most interesting sound you have ever heard? the sound of NOOOO

[@dschinghiskhan5752]

Stockhausen esta vivo. Y prometo encontrarle y desmentir su deceso aunque tenca que recorrer la galaxia entera. ZASCA

[@saelaird]

I tend to think we are "built" fairly neutral to be honest. Whilst I agree with the majority of your comment, there is evidence to suggest we are conditioned from an early age to appreciate (to a greater extent) music and tonality of our native culture. Indian people often cannot understand why we find the 1st - 5th interval pleasing, as they compose in far smaller tonal incriments. Very interesting stuff!

[@d3p3ch3mod3]

Karlheinz Stockhausen (August 22, 1928 -- December 5, 2007) I just heard :-**(

[@gabanabel]

buenisimo, muy inteligente!

[@yourforte]

No need to apologise. Each to his/her own

[@morelli6]

well, I'm not saying that he's a 'genius' (I really hate that word) but I think that it's absolutely necessary to push the boundaries of music just to make us appreciate some other elements that otherwise we wouldn't notice.

[@MusicaRicercata]

Would anyone happen to know the piece at the beginning of the video?

[@yuconghuang2725]

MusicaRicercata refrain

[@mmlight]

This is the most well thought out commentary on this genera of music I've yet read. Its precisely why people like Squarepusher are the future and Stockhausen the distant past. Even Aphex Twin schooled the old man when he tried to instruct APX on how to make good dance music. Can you imagine dance music of any quality from Stockhausen??

[@S728-u9x]

Lol

[@egapnala65]

Why "Zyklus"? Please elaborate. Not the first work I would have chosen to exemplify Stockhausen's works. Stockhausen didn't write "dance music" because regular beats reminded him of the Nazis goosestepping.

[@JohnBock-nq9lr]

SUN RA DID THIS IN 1961!!!

[@becomepostal]

I like the fact that KZbin is displaying "Silly Job Interview" by the Monty Python as the first selected video related to the currently displayed video, right now. The other commenters did a good job at pointing at the utterly lack of competence of the interviewer.

[@shekhawat5917]

What song is it in the beginning. I dont know if these are songs but thats all i can think of

[@CautiousKieran]

Sounds like he's done a Sun Ra.

[@Hammill]

Thanks!

[@richtomes]

The Emperors's tailors talked the same way about the Emperor's new clothes. Only the untalented wouldn't be able to appreciate them...

[@AndreitsBravo]

La dominación de la música romántica, ¿cuándo se dejará tranquilo ese tema en la música? Un respiro, es agotador.

[@morelli6]

yes, I agree. I would rather listen to ravel than to stockhausen. However, music, as history has demonstrated, it's not expressive per se. one prefers tonality because the ear is used to it. Tonality is actually very artificial

[@ChloeBrown-k3k]

Does anyone know the name of the interviewer and the date of this interview?