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Stockhausen's Piano Pieces: Some Notes for the ListenerAuthor(s): Roger SmalleySource: The Musical Times, Vol. 110, No. 1511 (Jan., 1969), pp. 30-32Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/953728
Accessed: 26/07/2010 21:53
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7/18/2019 Stockhausen's Piano Pieces - Some Notes for the Listener
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Stockhausen s
i a n o
i e c e s
Some notes
for
the
listener
Roger
Smalley
In the notes
accompanying
he recent
recording1
f
his
complete
piano works,
Stockhausen
writes:
In
spite
of,
or rather because
of,
the
very
con-
siderable
significance
of
timbre
(Klangfarben)
composition
in
my
electronic
music and in
my
orchestral
and vocal
works,
from time to time
I
have concentrated
again
on
'Piano
Pieces',
on
composing
for
a
single instrument,
for
ten
fingers,
with
minute
nuances
of timbres
and
structures.
They
are
my
drawings.
This
statement
admirably
characterizes he musical
content of these two records,and in additionsug-
gests,
perhaps,
the
frame of
mind
in
which we
as
listeners
can
most
valuably approach
them.
In
many
respects
these
eleven
piano pieces
are the
most
refined of all Stockhausen'sworks.
Lacking
both
the
overwhelming
onorous
and
spatial
effects
of
the
large
orchestral,
choral
and electronic
works
(Gruppen,
Carre, Momente, Kontakte),
and
the
grandiose
programmatic
and
philosophical
prob-
lems
posed by
much
of
his recent music
(Hymnen,
Momente, Telemusik),
they
rely
for
their cohesion
and
power
on
the
realization
and
perception
of
pure
structure.
Because
the
pieces
themselves force
us,
by
their
very
nature,
to concentrateon
structure,
want in
this article
o
try
and
indicatesome
of
the
structural
processes
at work and how we
may
perceive
hem.
There
are additionalreasons. The first
is the exist-
ence
of
the records
on
which
the
playing (by
Aloys
Kontarsky)
and
recording supervised
by
the com-
poser)
are
of
superlativequality.
The second is the
fact that
the scores
of all eleven
pieces
are
published,2
that
they
are
not
undulyexpensive,
and that some
of
the
pieces
(3, 5, 7,
9)
are
easy
enough
o be tackled
by
any pianist
of
average
technique.
Finally,
the
emphasis
on structurealso
provides
a useful
anti-
dote to those
who
criticize
Stockhausen's
music on
the groundsof being merelysound effects with no
form
or
development,and,
conversely,
o those
who
do
like
his
music
simply
because
t
is
full of
startling
new sounds.
First
a
word
about the
chronology
of
the
pieces.
A
complete
set of
21
piano
pieces
was
planned
in
1954,
divided
into
six
cycles:
1-4,
5-10,
11,
12-16,
17-19, 20-21,
of which
only
the first eleven have
as
yet
been
completed.
Pieces 1-4 were written
in
1952-3,
in the order
3,
2,
1,
4.
Pieces
5-10
were
written
in 1954-5
and
number
11
in 1956.
In
1961
revised versionswere
made of 9
and 10.
In
his
analysis3
of Piece
3,
Dieter Schnebel
has
shown
that
even
though
the
basic
premise
is the
equalityof all parameters,during he actualprocess
of
composition
the
relationships
et
up
between
the
'cBS
77209
(two
records,
87s
7d)
2Universal
3Die
Reihe, iv,
121
30
,
rl:----.10.---------------
11---------------,10--
- -
Nf
?
----
-*---
4Texte, i,
63
various
parameters
become more
important
than
their
individual
dentity.
Diverse elements become
inextricably
knotted
together
and
produce
the
identity
of the
piece itself,
a
total
form
which
is at
the
same time more
simple
and
more
complex
than
the sum of its
parts.
(This
is
shown
particularly
clearly
by
the
diagram
on
page
131.)
Once the
result of
a
process
has been
discovered,
one moves
on
a
stage
further.
The
recognition
that
the
dis-
cretely
considered lements
of
pointillistcomposition
tended
to
coalesce
into
characteristic
roups
in the
end
product
ed
Stockhausen o
the
notion
of
com-
position
with the
groups
themselves
(a
similar
development
can be
observed between Boulez's
first
and
second
books of
Structures).
Stockhausenhas written4:
In
pieces
1-4
a
transi-
tion from
pointillist
music
to
group
composition
can be
discerned'.
This
new idea
of
groups
can be
seen at its most
highly
developed
n
the
first
piece.
On
the
page
the music has a formidable
ook,
but
closer
examinationand
repeatedhearings
will
prove
that
it
is
in fact formed from the
contrast
and con-
tinuity
of
a
large
number
of
highly
characterized
groups.
The
following
is
a translation of Stock-
hausen's own commentaryon the first group of
Piece
1
(see
ex
1):
The
1st
group
has ten attacks and
a
directional
movement
n
medium-sized
pitch-intervals
rom
the lowest to the
highestregister.
Two
intervals,
however,
are
descenrding.
The
first
separates
he
whole
group
into
two
sub-groups
of
five and
seven
pitches
respectively.
The second descend-
ing
interval n
the middle
register
coincides
with
one which ascends
from the
low
register,
and so
continues
the
movement towards
the
high
register,
and
in
additionarticulates
the second
sub-group.
In the first
sub-group
he
pitches
are
sharply
demarcated
by
differentiated
dynamics;
in the second
group, however,
they
are of
equal
intensity.
Correspondingly,
n the
first
sub-group
the
pitches
are
of
different
durations,
those of
the
second
being fairly closely
related or
equal
in
their
durations.
At
two
places
in the
second
sub-
group,
two
pitches
are
struck
simultaneously.
A
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single
sound
quality
unites the
group
by
means
of the notated held
pedal.
Rhythmically
this
means:
the
pitches
are struck
consecutively,
but
they
end
simultaneously
with
the
release
of
the
pedal.
The
tempo
of
the
group
is
moderateand
accelerates n the
second
sub-group.
The
entire
group
has
a
durationof
five
crotchets.
In
essence
he
seems
to
be
saying
that the music
should be
perceived
in terms of its
direction,
density,
speed, dynamic
level
etc;
and the
unity
of
the
piece (from
the listener's
point
of
view)
will
become
apparent
when
we
recognize
the
intricate
network of
similarities
and
differences
which exist
between the
groups.
It
is
consistent with this
approach
hat the
pitch
organization
hould
be on
a
fairly
simple
evel.
It
would be
possible
to
deducea
12-note row
from the
first
bar,
but
this
seems
to
function
only
as a
pair
of
unordered
hexachords,
and
is
in
fact
used
as such
throughout
he rest of the
piece.
One noticeable
eatureof ex
1
is the
unprecedented
complexityof the irrationalvalues. Thesecan just
about
be realized
by
a
solo
performer-in
an
ensemblesituation
they
would become
meaningless.
Listening
irstto this
piece
and
then
to,
say,
the fifth
(which
uses no
irrational
values
at
all)
one can
per-
ceive
no essentialdifference
n the
types
of
rhythmic
articulation
present.
This is
because
Stockhausen
has
found a
much
simpler
and
more
satisfactory
method of
achieving
rhythmic
diversity.
This
system
also
recognizes
he
fact
that
in
any
musical
context certain
notes
will
emerge
as
more
important
than
others.
It
is,
in
essence,
a
system
of
grace-notes
whose
rhythmic profile
is
determined
by
the
dex-
terity
of the
performer
and
the
expressive
demands
of theircontext. Theprincipalnotescan be attached
to either the
beginning
or the end
of the
passage
of
grace
notes,
or can
emerge
rom
the
middle
of
them.
Ex 2
(from
Piece
5)
shows
examples
of
all
three
types.
fail to be
recognized.
Also
important
s the
struc-
tural use
of
tempo.
Pieces 5-8
all
use the
12
tempi
used in
Gruppenalthough
only
the
Piece
6 uses
all
12).
Jonathan
Harvey5
has
shown how
these
tempi
are used
to delineate the formal
divisions of
Piece
5 and also
how the overall formal
structure
s
built
out
of
a careful
control of
density
and
rate of
pitch eventuation. Each of the basic types of
material
reaches ts climax at
a
different
point
in
the
piece
so
that
the
overall
form can
be
likened
to
a
series of
interlocking
ycles,
each with
its
independ-
ently
achieved
peak
(as
in Plus-Minus nd
Zyklus).
Another
form-building
echnique
is
the use of
different
modes of
attack.
This is
of
particular
importance
in
Pieces
6 and
11.
Modes of attack
include
playing
staccato
with
the
right
pedal
half
down,
playing
staccato
and
immediately
rede-
pressing
he
key
silently
so
as
to obtain
an
echo,
and
gradually releasing
the
key
so
that
the sound
be-
comes softer and
brighter.
These
techniques
of
playing, previously
used
only
in a
colouristic
and
articulative
ole,
assume
n
these
pieces
a
structural
function.
Being
of
a
particularly
ubtle
nature
they
can be heard
perhaps
best
of
all
on a
gramophone
record.
The
structuraluse of
grace
notes,
and of
silence,
feature
most
prominently
in
Piece 10. The
basic
structureof
large
notes
becomes almost
submerged
under the
cascades
of
grace-notes, clusters,
and
cluster-glissandi.
As
in
the
recomposition
of
Punkte
(1962)
he addedmaterial
no
longer
merely
decorates
and
amplifies
the
basic material
but forms
a
new
layer
of
equal
(if
not
greater)
mportance,
o that
the
piece
seems
almost to
exist
in
two
dimensions
at
once. The form of Piece 10 is unusual in that it
begins
at the
point
of
greatest
complexity
and
gradually
becomes
simpler
as it
progresses.
The
first five-and-a-half
ages
present
n
almost
chaotic
juxtaposition
all the ideas
of
the
entire
piece.
There-
after
the ideas become
separated
nd
developed-for
instance
he
single
repeated
note at the
top
of
p.2
is
developed
at
length
on
pp.28-9
and
again
on
p.34,
and the
whole
concept
of
chromatically
nvoluted
grace-notes
s
presented
n a
new,
almost
impres-
sionistic
light
on
pp.34-5.
The
long
silences
n this
piece
are
virtually
never
really silent; they
are
'coloured'
by
the
delicate
sound of harmonic reson-
ances.
Again,
while these
tend
to die
away
rather
quickly
n the concerthalltheyarepicked
up
beauti-
fully
in
the
recording,
an
additional
microphone
over the
piano strings being
used to boost them
artificially,producing
at
times
an
almost
electronic,
un-'piano-like'
sound. This reinforces the
feeling
that the
tremendous
energy
generatedby
the
open-
ing
of the
piece
does not
merely stop
during
these
'silences'
but
continues
on some sub-audible
evel,
periodically
to burst
through
to
the
perceptible
level
again.
The
increasingly
lose correlationbetween Stock-
hausen's
compositional
techniques
and
the
way
in
which we
perceiveprocesses
n
sound is illustrated
best by Piece 9. At the beginning, two sharply
contrasted
ideas
are
stated. The first is a
single
unchanging
chord
repeated
over 200
times,
abso-
p
PIP
LTL•L:~l
'
II MAD Iw
t-t
.pPP
mp
Throughout
the second
cycle
of
pieces
it
be-
comes
progressively
easier to
perceive
overall,
as
opposed
to
local,
structure.
The
basic
types
of
material
become
highly
differentiated
and
are
isolated
from each
other
by
an
increasinglysigni-ficantuse of silence.
Particularly
learin structure
is
Piece
8
in
which the
three
main ideas-com-
plex
contrapuntal
passages,
long
held
single
notes,
and
outbreaks of
very
fast
violent chords-cannot
'Music
Review
(1968), xxix,
130
31
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lutely
regularly
nd at
a
moderately
ast
speed.
This
is
immediately
followed
by
a
very
slowly
rising
chromatic
scale,
each note of
a
different
duration.
During
the remainderof
the
piece
these two
ideas,
each associated with its
own
tempo,
are
alternated
and
juxtaposed.
The
resolution of the
conflict
between these two
opposing
ideas-fast and
per-
iodic, slow and aperiodic-is finallybroughtabout
only by
the
appearance
f
a
completely
new
kind of
music.
The
last
two
pages
of
the
piece
take
place
almost
entirely
in
the
highest register
of the
piano
and
consist
of
irregularly spaced
groups
of
fast
periodic
notes
which,
by
the
action of the
player,
gradually
become more
and
more
aperiodic.
I have tried
to indicate
just
a
few of the infinite
number
of
ways
in
which
we
can
listen
to these
pieces.
The
very
fact
that
they
are
of such inex-
haustible richness should indicate clearly enough
their
stature
as
music.
music
examples
by
permission
of
Universal Edition
(London)
Ltd
L e t t e r s t
t h
d i t o r
ELGAR
With
reference
o
Mr
Pirie's review
in The Musical
Times
of
August
ast
(p.728),
I
wish to
confirm
hat it
is true
my
Father
expressed
his wish
to be buried
at
the
junction
of the Teme and Severn rivers at a
time when
I felt he
really
was
fully
conscious
for the
first time
after some
weeks. So
it
must be
under-
stood
that
I
could not
ignore
his wishes
without
great
thought.
Then
Father Gibb S. J.
from St
George's,
Worcester,
was asked to
attend,
and to
him
my
Father reaffirmed
his
faith
in
the Roman
Catholic
Church,
so the whole
question
was,
I am
thankful
o
say,
resolved.
I
have
asked
Mr
Kennedy
o
add
these
facts to the
new
edition
of
his book
and I
hope
that
any
con-
fusion
and doubt
on
this
question
will now be
dispelled.
Westbury-on-Trym
C.
ELGAR
LAKE
MRS)
Corroborative
evidence
as to
Elgar's
reception
of
the
Last
Sacraments s
recorded
in
the Sick
Calls
register
1934)
n the archivesof
St
George's
Church,
Worcester.
(The
ate
Percy
Scholesonce
called
at
the
Presbytery
o
inquire
about the
matter.)
I
do not
know
if
it is still
the
practice,
but
a 'month'smind'
Mass
of
Requiem
was for
many years
offered
there
on
the
23rd of each month.
It
is
now
proposed
to
restore the
organ young
Edward
(and
his father
before
him)
played,
and
a
list
of donors-still
open-includes
some
famous
names.
Interested
readers
may
care to
know
that
subscriptions
may
be
sent
to
'Trustees,Elgar Organ
Fund,'
St
George's
Church,
Sansome
Place,
Worcester.
North
Harrow
H. A.
CHAMBERS
I have
no
intention
of
challenging
he
veracity
of Mr
Kennedy's
account
of
Elgar's
ast
weeks;
but on one
point
of the
complex
psychology
of belief
in
the
still
more
complex
brain
of
a
genius
my
own
memory
and instinct
prompted
me
to
doubt
any
too
black
and white
dismissal
of
Elgar's
faith.
I have
since
confirmed
he
incident
hat
lingered
n
mymemory;
a
Roman
Catholic
family
of
my
acquaintance
pointed
out to me
at
the time
an
extract
from The
Universe
f
March
2 1934
which runs:
Fr R.
H.
Gibb
S.J.,
who
visited
Sir
Edward
shortly
before
he
died, says:
'Almost
a week
ago
in the presence of the doctor (who is not a
Catholic)
he
said:
I
am
a
Catholic,
and
a
Roman
Catholic...
'.
Mr
Valbonesi
has the same
incident
rom another
source,
so
it
appears
that it
was
widely reported.
Moreover,
there
was a move
afoot
at the time
to
bury Elgar
in Westminster
Abbey,
but
it
was
decided
o
bury
him
in Catholic
consecrated
round.
The whole
question
is an elusive
one,
since even
the mostfervently eligious ometimeswaver n their
beliefs,
and the
intensely
emotionalnatureof
Elgar,
plus
an
inconsistency
f attitude hat mustbe
familiar
to
anyone
who
has studied his
letters,
renders
the
question
still more elusive.
My
own
instinct,
for
what
it
is
worth,
suggests
to
me
a man
who would
utter
extravagant
hings
under
provocation
or
pain,
but whose
musicalnature
would
probably
condition
a
deep
unconscious
clinging
to
belief
that
would
emerge
on occasion into
positive
affirmation.
Shoreham-by-Sea
PETER
.
PIRIE
BERLIOZ
FORGERIES
A
number
of hitherto
unknown Berlioz
letters,
drafts,musicalsketches,album eaves,and 'associa-
tion
copies'
have
recently
passed
into
circulation.
Most
of the
letters offer
interesting
information
about
Berlioz's methods
of
composition,
artistic
intentions,
musical
opinions,
and
personal
beliefs,
and have
thus
aroused the
curiosity
of
scholars
working
n
the
period.
It
is
now
clear,
however,
hat
many
of
these
'new'
documents
are
ingenious
forgeries.
We
therefore
advise
collectors,
antiquarian
ealers,
ibrarians,
nd
scholars
to
bear
this
in
mind
when
anything pur-
porting
to be
a Berlioz
autograph
comes their
way.
The
forger
or
forgers
have taken some
trouble to
familiarize
themselves
with
the more
accessible
details
of
the
lives
of Berlioz
and his
friends
in
Paris.
TheNew BerliozEdition will be happyto express
an
opinion
about
the
genuineness
of
any
item sub-
mitted
to
it,
at
Pembroke
College,
Cambridge.
HUGH
MACDONALD
DAVID
CAIRNS
ALAN
TYSON
MOZART'S
MINIMS
In
my
interview
n
the
August
MT
(pp.722-3),
was
discussing
the
fact
that notes
in
the
18th
century
were
not intended
o
be sustained
as
long
as
they
are
generally
today,
and
cited
an aria in Don
Giovanni as
an
example
and
also
bars
2
and 4 of
the
overture.
Mr Frost
(Nov
MT,
pp.1019-20)
seems
not to
have
taken the point that I was referring to the general
practice
in the
18th
century
regarding
note-lengths.
In
my
opinion,
it
would never occur to
an
18th-
century
musician
to
sustain
a
note
unless
specific-
ally
marked
tenuto.
If Mozart had wanted to
obtain
32