Europa-Gruss (Europe Greeting) is a composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen for wind ensemble with optional synthesizers, and is assigned Number 72 in the composer's catalogue of works. It has a duration of about twelve-and-a-half minutes.
Europa-Gruss (Europe Greeting) is a composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen for wind ensemble with optional synthesizers, and is assigned Number 72 in the composer's catalogue of works. It has a duration of about twelve-and-a-half minutes.
The idea of composing the Europa-Gruss was first suggested to Stockhausen in August 1991, by the sculptor Helmut Lutz of Breisach. In February of the next year, it was formally commissioned by the mayor of Neuf-Brisach (Breisach’s adjacent French fortress city across the Rhine in Alsace), for the Étoile Sonore Europe Festival, who requested a "Europe Fanfare" or "concerted Europe hymn". [1] [2] Originally titled Mittwochs-Gruss, it was briefly meant to be the "greeting" for the opera Mittwoch aus Licht and was initially assigned the work number 65 in the composer’s catalogue of works, immediately preceding the four scenes of the opera (provisionally numbered 66–69). By the time the score was completed on 21 July 1992, Stockhausen had decided against using it in his opera and changed its title, first to Europa-Hymne, and then to its final, published form. In December 1994 Stockhausen re-assigned it the work number 72 (along with other adjustments to the work numbers), and eventually replaced it in the opera with a new “greeting” of electronic music, which took over the number 65. [3]
Flexibly scored for a potentially immense ensemble of instruments, it was premièred on 12 September 1992 in Neuf-Brisach by an ensemble of the participants in a regional brass convention featuring eight solo trumpets, directed by the composer’s son, Markus Stockhausen, who also participated as a trumpet soloist. The composer revised the score in 1995, and in 2002 devised a minimum scoring for just ten instruments. This version was premiered on 27 July 2002 at the Stockhausen Courses for New Music in Kürten, under the composer’s direction, and recorded shortly afterward by the same performers for release on compact disc. [3] [1] [2]
The instrumentation suggested in the commission was: eight solo trumpeters, one extra soloist, 104 trumpets divided into four equal sections, 32 horns divided into four sections, 32 mixed tenor and baritone horns in four sections, 64 trombones in four sections, and 8 tubas in two sections. [2] Stockhausen accommodated this request with a flexible scoring for four tutti groups of instruments (two of treble and two of bass instruments), a group of solo instruments, and synthesizers ad lib. There is no upper limit on the size of this ensemble, but the groups should be balanced in size. The smallest possible option is for twelve parts: four soloists, four tutti treble and four tutti bass instruments (divided 2 + 2), but when synthesizers are included, each player can cover two parts (one with each hand). The arrangement used for the 2002 performance with just ten players (two flutes, clarinet, basset horn, bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, trumpet, trombone, and two synthesizers) is printed in the score, immediately after the original version. [4]
The Europa-Gruss is an example of formula composition, using the Licht superformula. It is based on a synchronisation of the core pitches of the complete Michael and Lucifer layers (in the middle and lower parts, respectively) to the Wednesday segment of Eve’s layer (in the highest parts). These are stretched twenty-fold, from an original duration of just 36 seconds to 12 minutes, 14 seconds, and rapid solo passages are composed around the three stretched melodies. A sixty-second pause occurs about a third of the way through the work (due to a rest in Eve’s Wednesday segment), where isolated punctual notes and chords recall elements of the preceding section. [5]
Licht (Light), subtitled "Die sieben Tage der Woche", is a cycle of seven operas composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen between 1977 and 2003. The composer described the work as an "eternal spiral" because "there is neither end nor beginning to the week." Licht consists of 29 hours of music.
Tierkreis (1974–75) is a musical composition by the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. The title is the German word for Zodiac, and the composition consists of twelve melodies, each representing one sign of the zodiac.
Klang —Die 24 Stunden des Tages is a cycle of compositions by Karlheinz Stockhausen, on which he worked from 2004 until his death in 2007. It was intended to consist of 24 chamber-music compositions, each representing one hour of the day, with a different colour systematically assigned to every hour. The cycle was unfinished when the composer died, so that the last three "hours" are lacking. The 21 completed pieces include solos, duos, trios, a septet, and Stockhausen's last entirely electronic composition, Cosmic Pulses. The fourth composition is a theatre piece for a solo percussionist, and there are also two auxiliary compositions which are not part of the main cycle. The completed works bear the work (opus) numbers 81–101.
Montag aus Licht is an opera by Karlheinz Stockhausen in a greeting, three acts, and a farewell, and was the third of seven to be composed for the opera cycle Licht: die sieben Tage der Woche. The libretto was written by the composer.
Suzanne Stephens is an American clarinetist, resident in Germany, described as "an outstanding performer and tireless promoter of the clarinet and basset horn".
Kathinka Pasveer is a Dutch flautist.
In Freundschaft is a composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen, number 46 in his catalogue of works, which is playable on a wide variety of solo instruments. It was first performed on a clarinet on 28 July 1977.
Carré (Square) for four orchestras and four choirs (1959–60) is a composition by the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, and is Work Number 10 in the composer's catalog of works.
Adieufür Wolfgang Sebastian Meyer is a composition for wind quintet by Karlheinz Stockhausen composed in 1966. It is Number 21 in the composer's catalog of works, and the second of Stockhausen's three wind quintets.
Sonntag aus Licht is an opera by Karlheinz Stockhausen in five scenes and a farewell, to a libretto written and compiled by the composer. It is the last-composed of seven operas that comprise the cycle Licht (Light). Its stage premiere in 2011 was posthumous, more than three years after the composer's death.
Samstag aus Licht is an opera by Karlheinz Stockhausen in a greeting and four scenes, and was the second of seven to be composed for the opera cycle Licht: die sieben Tage der Woche. It was written between 1981 and 1983, to a libretto written by the composer and incorporating a text by Saint Francis of Assisi, and was first staged in Milan in 1984.
Donnerstag aus Licht is an opera by Karlheinz Stockhausen in a greeting, three acts, and a farewell, and was the first of seven to be composed for the opera cycle Licht: die sieben Tage der Woche. It was written between 1977 and 1980, with a libretto by the composer.
Dienstag aus Licht is an opera by Karlheinz Stockhausen in a greeting and two acts, with a farewell, and was the fourth of seven to be completed for the opera cycle Licht: Die sieben Tage der Woche. It was begun in 1977 and completed from 1988 to 1991, to a libretto by the composer.
Mittwoch aus Licht is an opera by Karlheinz Stockhausen in a greeting, four scenes, and a farewell. It was the sixth of seven to be composed for the opera cycle Licht: die sieben Tage der Woche, and the last to be staged. It was written between 1995 and 1997, and first staged in 2012.
Strahlen (Rays) for a percussionist and ten-channel sound recording is a composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen, and is Nr. 80½ in his catalog of works. Its performing duration is 35 minutes.
Stop is a composition for orchestra by Karlheinz Stockhausen, work-number 18 in the composer’s catalogue of works, where two performing realisations are also found as Nr. 18½ and Nr. 18⅔.
Oktophonie (Octophony) is a 1991 octophonic electronic-music composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen. A component layer of act 2 of the opera Dienstag aus Licht, it may also be performed as an independent composition. It has a duration of 69 minutes.
The Rotary Wind Quintet is a chamber-music composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen, the last of his three wind quintets and is Nr. 70½ in his catalogue of works. A performance lasts about 8½ minutes.
Trumpetent is a quartet for four trumpets by the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, written in 1995. It is Number 73 in his catalogue of works and one of four independent compositions related to his opera, Mittwoch aus Licht. A performance lasts about 16 minutes.
