Music of Karlheinz Stockhausen

Karlheinz Stockhausen is a composer who,
especially in the 1950s and 60s, seemed to have
re-defined the understanding of what music is
about with each of his compositions. His
theoretical writings and lectures are as legendary
as his music. In the tradition of European art
music, which claimed philosophical status and was
considered a progressive field of intense
aesthetic discourse, Stockhausen was, together
with Pierre Boulez and Luigi Nono, the most
prominent representative of the young post-war
generation, rebelling in Darmstadt against
paradigms of expression and entertainment. Music
had to be about something; each composition
addressed an aesthetic problem.

The course is designed for all instrumentalists
and composers - as well as other artists at
CalArts who can read music - who have a particular
interest in contemporary classical music with a
focus on early electronic music, serialism,
musical form, and aesthetic theory.