Search - Karlheinz Stockhausen :: Stockhausen: Stimmung

A truly 'New Age' work

DAC Crowell | 04/05/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an astounding work by one of the true masters of the post-WWII avant-garde. Stockhausen often worked with massive (and complex) forces, but here, all we find are six unadorned voices, gradually chanting their way through a litany of sacred names, erotic verse, meditative intonations, all utilizing only the harmonics of a single root B-flat tone that can be produced by the human voice. There are many people that think that washing synths, twiddly melodies, and overdubbed whales makes for 'New Age'...but "Stimmung" really sounds like some mysterious, just-beyond-comprehension ceremony from some time not yet reached. Singcircle's performance here is perhaps the best I've heard, also, with very exacting (and rigorous) performance capabilities in evidence. And having some familiarity myself with how overtone singing works, I can say that the effort which the ensemble makes here is truly leviathan, monumental, and all the more astounding for its accomplishment!"

Beautiful, but...

DAC Crowell | 10/09/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The singers are all top-class, and the recording technique superb, but I still prefer the older recordings with the Collegium Vocale Köln (2 versions in Stockhausen-Edition CD12), who premiered "Stimmung" in the late 1960's. The reason is that the Collegium Vocale singers seemed to have a very good time when singing and the piece progresses spontaneously (note that in this piece the singers have to make decisions almost all the time during each performance). On the other side, the Singcircle singers seem to be always very, very concentrated, but they take the music too seriously, and even the funny interludes when "erotic" verses by Stockhausen are recited are performed as if they were written for the Church. If you really like this music you should have both recordings."

Dependable manipulation of voice

hirofantv | tomorrow | 05/18/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Stockhausen's career was one of monumental & protean experimentation. Who might have expected that the man who composed music as chaotic as Kontakte would also compose music with notes as solidly organised as Stimmung? My friend who is a fellow fan of Stockhausen thinks of Stimmung as "his silly piece." It's so accessible that it's very fun too -- unusual for him. Stimmung was inspired by time Stockhausen spent in Mexico where he would sit on a rock for hours staring at ruins, noticing how they were slightly out pf phase.... He also experienced being different indigenous peoples or a Spaniard & relived their religious ceremonies, which could be quite cruel, but (as he wrote) "religious cruelty isn't in Stimmung, only sounds.""