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KLANG - Stockhausen, Drei Lieder, Urantia and Tierkreis: Helena Rasker (alto), Kathinka Pasveer (sound projection), London Sinfonietta,  Oliver Knussen (conductor) Queen Elizabeth Hall, London 8.11.2008 (CR)


This was a fascinating concert, which included the first instrumental ensemble piece that Stockhausen wrote, as well as the last, completed the night before he diedt last year.

Drei Lieder for alto voice and chamber orchestra were written in August 1950, as a student composition exercise. The texts in the original version (entitled Songs of a Renegade) were written by Stockhausen himself, but following a rejection from Darmstadt, the first poem was replaced by one by Baudelaire.

The style of the songs may have come as something of a surprise to those who share the common perception of Stockhausen; that his music is difficult to listen to, modernist in the extreme and bound by serial techniques which remove all emotional meaning from the music. Of course, this perception is far from reality, and the Klang Festival at the South Bank Centre has done much to show different elements of Stockhausen’s work. An undisputed genius, there is an enormous range of material in Stockhausen’s music, and these early songs show influences from Schoenberg and Berg, Stravinsky, Messiaen and even jazz, each to a greater or lesser degree through the piece. Percussive elements are provided through an antiphonally positioned piano and harpsichord (the harpsichord providing a possible link to Stockhausen’s electronic output through its mechanical usage) and frequent use of a xylophone. These elements are balanced with music slow expressive material, combined with a warm, rich, low alto voice.  Helena Rasker’s voice was perfectly suited to this music and she gave a spine-tingling performance.

Urantia comes from the 19^th hour of Klang, a major work comprising several different pieces for varied forces. Urantia was composed in 2007 as a South Bank Centre Commission and uses pre recorded soprano with electronics. It was performed with the hall in complete darkness, apart from a small circle of light projected onto the back of the stage. The effect was dramatic, and the darkness helped to focus the listener on the sound, sensing the orbits of the electronic music as it passed between the 8 speakers surrounding the hall. There was no better example of how Stockhausen has a way of encapsulating the listener into whatever universe a particular piece resides. The soprano line unfolds gradually throughout the piece, in long sustained notes with the text broken into small elements so that it is barely perceptible.

The final work in the concert was Tierkreis for orchestra, an orchestration of ten of the movements from the original Tierkreis (Zodiac) composed for musical boxes in the 1970s. The first five of the melodies were orchestrated in 2004, and the remaining five were completed on the eve of Stockhausen’s death in 2007. They were heard here for the first time in the UK, and the final movement was repeated as an encore in a fitting tribute to Stockhausen’s life. The pieces were fascinating, exploring interesting instrumental sounds and combinations, such as tam tam and three divisi cellos, plectrums on a harp and slow trombone glissandi. Never static, the music takes the listener on a journey through the signs of the zodiac, and this performance had some exceptional moments, such as Melinda Maxwell’s expertly performed oboe solos. A theatrical element to the work comes in the form of a tuba entry, wandering across the stage as he play and then taking a bow as the music continues. The effect was comical, making good use of the space and moving the sound source, although it did interrupt my emotional engagement with the music. The tuba part was played with flair by Ben Thompson, who played without reference to a score and communicated particularly well with the audience.

The London Sinfonietta performed with their usual excellence under the baton of Oliver Knussen, and the full Queen Elizabeth Hall was a testament to Sotckhausen’s standing as a composer. Hats off to Gillian Moore and her colleagues for producing such an excellent festival and for providing an opportunity for Stockhausen’s last notes to be heard.

Carla Rees

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