Punkte
Encyclopedia
Punkte is an orchestral composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen
, given the work number ½ in his catalogue of works.
orchestral work which was begun in September in Hamburg and had reached a first-draft stage by 30 September. The final draft was completed on 24 October 1952, but the work remained unperformed and unpublished (Blumröder 1993, 97–99; Frisius 2008, 56). The work did not receive the title by which it is known today until much later, however. In a letter dated 4 November 1952 to Alfred Schlee (the editor from Universal Edition
in Vienna who, at the premiere of Stockhausen's Spiel at the Donaueschingen Festival
in October, had offered to publish his works), Stockhausen initially called his new score Zweites Orchesterspiel / Kontrapunkte / für Saiten- und Blasinstrumente, and in a letter to his friend Karel Goeyvaerts
dated 14 January 1953, he calls the orchestral work Nr. 4 Kontrapunkte, adding, "It will be very difficult to perform this work". At this point in time, the chamber composition now known as Kontra-Punkte (with a hyphen) was instead called simply Nr 5…, für 10 Instrumente. After a heated discussion in March with Hermann Scherchen
, who Stockhausen hoped would conduct the work at a festival in Cologne, he decided to withdraw the score, and substituted the chamber work for ten instruments, now redesignated "Nr 1", and eventually given the title Kontra-Punkte. The withdrawn orchestral score, which has never been performed, was renamed Punkte at some unknown point in time (Blumröder 1993, 99–101).
Stockhausen wholly recomposed this score in 1962, at which time it was given the retrospective work number ½ (the fraction indicating that it preceded his "work number 1"). Work was begun during a four-week stay in Finland in the summer, when Stockhausen was lecturing at the Jyväskylä
summer university. It was intended for performance in Palermo later in the year, but the score was not finished in time and the event was cancelled. Having rescheduled the premiere for Donaueschingen the following year, Stockhausen resumed work in October 1962 while staying at the house of his Darmstadt pupil Jack Brimberg in Locust Valley on Long Island, New York. After some anxious correspondence with Heinrich Strobel, director of the Donaueschingen Festival, the score was completed and dispatched to Strobel on 28 February 1963 (Kurtz 1992, 123–24). In its new form, the "points" of the original version scarcely ever appear as such. Instead, they have become centres for groups, crowds, swarms, and vibrating masses, become nuclei of micro-musical organisms (Stockhausen 1971, 12). This "renewed" composition was premiered on 20 October 1963 at the Donaueschingen Music Festival, by the Orchestra of the SWF
, conducted by Pierre Boulez
, and was published by Universal Edition that year in facsimile (Kurtz 1992, 124).
Not yet satisfied with the result, Stockhausen made major changes to the new Punkte in 1964, and again in 1966 (Maconie 2005, 112). These versions were also published, and Stockhausen made further revisions in 1969, at which time Universal Edition began work on an engraved edition. Production stopped in 1973 only to restart in 1974 and, after Stockhausen made still more revisions in 1975, work resumed the next year. The engraved score was only finally finished (with further minor corrections made up to 1993) in 1996 (Attinello 1999, 1014).
The vertical width of each pitch band is controlled by a serial
distribution of chromatic intervals, from a single tone, via the minor second
, major second
, minor third
, and so on up to a major seventh
(Stockhausen 2009, 31).
Each of these six shapes may be composed in any of six textures (Stockhausen 2009, 32–35):
Some of these textures can be combined. For example, the opening section of Punkte combines normal tones and trills (Stockhausen 2009, 31). Similarly, there are places where the triangular sound shapes overlap so densely (due to the density of the points in the structure of the original 1952 version) that the entire space is filled with sound, leaving no silences. This situation suggested the idea of negative forms. The usual conception is that sounds are heard as being projected against a background of silence. In these negative structures, the situation is reversed. Sustained clusters
are made to sound for a comparatively long time, from which some of the sounds are erased. The "holes" therefore are the music (Stockhausen 2009, 43).
Both durations and pitches are distributed through the use of permutation
s, which serve as an aid to repetition, without repeating exactly the same thing. Diversity in unity is the principle of permutation, in dividing the larger elements into their smaller components (Stockhausen 2009, 43).
1966 version
1993 version
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
, given the work number ½ in his catalogue of works.
History
Punkte originated as a punctualPunctualism
Punctualism is a style of musical composition prevalent in Europe between 1949 and 1955 "whose structures are predominantly effected from tone to tone, without superordinate formal conceptions coming to bear"...
orchestral work which was begun in September in Hamburg and had reached a first-draft stage by 30 September. The final draft was completed on 24 October 1952, but the work remained unperformed and unpublished (Blumröder 1993, 97–99; Frisius 2008, 56). The work did not receive the title by which it is known today until much later, however. In a letter dated 4 November 1952 to Alfred Schlee (the editor from Universal Edition
Universal Edition
Universal Edition is a classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, and originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market...
in Vienna who, at the premiere of Stockhausen's Spiel at the Donaueschingen Festival
Donaueschingen Festival
The Donaueschingen Festival is a festival for new music that takes place every October in the small town of Donaueschingen...
in October, had offered to publish his works), Stockhausen initially called his new score Zweites Orchesterspiel / Kontrapunkte / für Saiten- und Blasinstrumente, and in a letter to his friend Karel Goeyvaerts
Karel Goeyvaerts
Karel Goeyvaerts was a Belgian composer.-Life:After studies at the Royal Flemish Music Conservatory in Antwerp, Goeyvaerts studied composition in Paris with Darius Milhaud and analysis with Olivier Messiaen...
dated 14 January 1953, he calls the orchestral work Nr. 4 Kontrapunkte, adding, "It will be very difficult to perform this work". At this point in time, the chamber composition now known as Kontra-Punkte (with a hyphen) was instead called simply Nr 5…, für 10 Instrumente. After a heated discussion in March with Hermann Scherchen
Hermann Scherchen
Hermann Scherchen was a German conductor.-Life:Scherchen was originally a violist and played among the violas of the Bluthner Orchestra of Berlin while still in his teens...
, who Stockhausen hoped would conduct the work at a festival in Cologne, he decided to withdraw the score, and substituted the chamber work for ten instruments, now redesignated "Nr 1", and eventually given the title Kontra-Punkte. The withdrawn orchestral score, which has never been performed, was renamed Punkte at some unknown point in time (Blumröder 1993, 99–101).
Stockhausen wholly recomposed this score in 1962, at which time it was given the retrospective work number ½ (the fraction indicating that it preceded his "work number 1"). Work was begun during a four-week stay in Finland in the summer, when Stockhausen was lecturing at the Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä is the capital of Central Finland and the largest city on the Finnish Lakeland, north-east of Tampere and north of Helsinki, on northern coast of lake Päijänne. The city has been continuously one of the most rapidly growing cities in Finland since World War II. The city is surrounded...
summer university. It was intended for performance in Palermo later in the year, but the score was not finished in time and the event was cancelled. Having rescheduled the premiere for Donaueschingen the following year, Stockhausen resumed work in October 1962 while staying at the house of his Darmstadt pupil Jack Brimberg in Locust Valley on Long Island, New York. After some anxious correspondence with Heinrich Strobel, director of the Donaueschingen Festival, the score was completed and dispatched to Strobel on 28 February 1963 (Kurtz 1992, 123–24). In its new form, the "points" of the original version scarcely ever appear as such. Instead, they have become centres for groups, crowds, swarms, and vibrating masses, become nuclei of micro-musical organisms (Stockhausen 1971, 12). This "renewed" composition was premiered on 20 October 1963 at the Donaueschingen Music Festival, by the Orchestra of the SWF
Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra
The Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra is a radio orchestra located in the German cities of Baden-Baden and Freiburg...
, conducted by Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
, and was published by Universal Edition that year in facsimile (Kurtz 1992, 124).
Not yet satisfied with the result, Stockhausen made major changes to the new Punkte in 1964, and again in 1966 (Maconie 2005, 112). These versions were also published, and Stockhausen made further revisions in 1969, at which time Universal Edition began work on an engraved edition. Production stopped in 1973 only to restart in 1974 and, after Stockhausen made still more revisions in 1975, work resumed the next year. The engraved score was only finally finished (with further minor corrections made up to 1993) in 1996 (Attinello 1999, 1014).
1952 version
The original version was for a small orchestra of either 27 (Frisius 2008, 57) or 30 players (Maconie 2005, 112):- 1 flute
- 2 oboes
- 1 E clarinet
- 1 B clarinet
- 1 bass clarinet in B
- 1 soprano (changing to alto) saxophone
- 1 baritone saxophone
- 1 bass saxophone or bass sarrusophoneSarrusophoneThe sarrusophone is a family of transposing musical instruments patented and placed into production by Pierre-Louis Gautrot in 1856. It was named after the French bandmaster Pierre-Auguste Sarrus who is credited with the concept of the instrument...
- 2 bassoons
- 1 horn in B
- 1 cornet in B
- 1 trumpet in C
- 1 trombone
- 1 [or 3] percussionists, playing 12 chromatically tuned bongos
- 1 piano (with softer tone, such as a BlüthnerBlüthnerBlüthner, formally Julius Blüthner Pianofortefabrik GmbH, is a piano-manufacturing company founded by Julius Blüthner in 1853 in Leipzig Germany.- History :...
) - 1 piano (with harder tone, such as a BechsteinC. Bechstein PianofortefabrikC. Bechstein Pianofortefabrik AG is a German manufacturer of pianos, established in 1853 by Carl Bechstein.-Before Bechstein:...
) - 2 harps (one with thin strips of paper woven through the strings)
- 2 violins [or 2 each first and second violins]
- 2 violas
- 2 [or just 1] cellos
- 1 contrabass
1962–93 version
- 3 flutes (all + piccolo, 3rd + alto flute in G)
- 3 oboes (ob. 1 + oboe d'amore; oboe 3 + cor anglais)
- 3 clarinets (E clarinet, B clarinet, and bass clarinet in B)
- 3 bassoons (third + contrabassoon)
- 3 horns in F
- 3 trumpets in C
- 1 tenor trombone
- 1 bass trombone
- 1 bass tuba
- 3 percussionists:
- tubular chimes, keyboard glockenspiel, 2 pedal timpani
- vibraphone
- marimbaphone
- 2 harps
- 2 pianos (second + celesta)
- 8 first violins
- 8 second violins
- 8 violas
- 6 cellos
- 4 contrabasses
Analysis
Punkte is divided into 144 overarching sections, characterised by sets of shapes and textures. Each isolated tone of the 1952 version was used as a "nucleus", and these nuclei were composed out into a variety of complex figures. There are six basic triangular shapes, with the nucleus at one apex (Stockhausen 2009, 31):- The nucleus tone is sustained while other pitches expand above it into a band:
- The nucleus tone is sustained while other pitches expand below it into a band:
- A band of sound begins, and the upper notes descend until only the nucleus is left at the bottom:
- A band of sound begins, and the lower notes ascend until only the nucleus is left at the top:
- The first two shapes are combined, so that pitches fan out in both directions to form a band both above and below the nucleus
- The third and fourth shapes are combined, so that a band of pitches narrows toward the nucleus at the centre
The vertical width of each pitch band is controlled by a serial
Serialism
In music, serialism is a method or technique of composition that uses a series of values to manipulate different musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though his contemporaries were also working to establish serialism as one example of...
distribution of chromatic intervals, from a single tone, via the minor second
Minor second
In modern Western tonal music theory a minor second is the interval between two notes on adjacent staff positions, or having adjacent note letters, whose alterations cause them to be one semitone or half-step apart, such as B and C or C and D....
, major second
Major second
In Western music theory, a major second is a musical interval spanning two semitones, and encompassing two adjacent staff positions . For example, the interval from C to D is a major second, as the note D lies two semitones above C, and the two notes are notated on adjacent staff postions...
, minor third
Minor third
In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the minor third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor third spans three semitones, the major...
, and so on up to a major seventh
Major seventh
In classical music from Western culture, a seventh is a musical interval encompassing seven staff positions , and the major seventh is one of two commonly occurring sevenths. It is qualified as major because it is the larger of the two...
(Stockhausen 2009, 31).
Each of these six shapes may be composed in any of six textures (Stockhausen 2009, 32–35):
- All notes continuous
- Notes are rhythmicised
- The sound texture is perforated by rests, sounding like Morse codeMorse codeMorse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
- All notes in the texture make glissandos
- All notes have tremolos or trills
- The note attacks are "verticalised" into a succession of chords
Some of these textures can be combined. For example, the opening section of Punkte combines normal tones and trills (Stockhausen 2009, 31). Similarly, there are places where the triangular sound shapes overlap so densely (due to the density of the points in the structure of the original 1952 version) that the entire space is filled with sound, leaving no silences. This situation suggested the idea of negative forms. The usual conception is that sounds are heard as being projected against a background of silence. In these negative structures, the situation is reversed. Sustained clusters
Tone cluster
A tone cluster is a musical chord comprising at least three consecutive tones in a scale. Prototypical tone clusters are based on the chromatic scale, and are separated by semitones. For instance, three adjacent piano keys struck simultaneously produce a tone cluster...
are made to sound for a comparatively long time, from which some of the sounds are erased. The "holes" therefore are the music (Stockhausen 2009, 43).
Both durations and pitches are distributed through the use of permutation
Permutation
In mathematics, the notion of permutation is used with several slightly different meanings, all related to the act of permuting objects or values. Informally, a permutation of a set of objects is an arrangement of those objects into a particular order...
s, which serve as an aid to repetition, without repeating exactly the same thing. Diversity in unity is the principle of permutation, in dividing the larger elements into their smaller components (Stockhausen 2009, 43).
Discography
1962 version- Donaueschinger Musiktage 1950–1990. Includes the world premiere of the 1962 version of Punkte, by the SWF Symphonie Orchester, Pierre BoulezPierre BoulezPierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
, cond. Col Legno AU-031800 CD (4 CDs). Staufen im Breisgau: Aurophon, 1990. Also issued on 75 Jahren Donaueshinger Musiktage 1921–1996. Col Legno WWE 12CD 31889 (12 CDs). [N.p.]: Col Legno Musikproduktion GmbH, 1996.
1966 version
- Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Chöre für Doris; Choral; "Atmen gibt das Leben . . ." ; Punkte für Orchester. North German Radio Symphony OrchestraNorth German Radio Symphony OrchestraThe North German Radio Symphony Orchestra is a German orchestra, the symphony orchestra of the Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Hamburg....
Hamburg [in Punkte only]; Choir of the North German Radio Hamburg, Karlheinz Stockhausen, cond. Deutsche Grammophon LP 2530 641. Hamburg: Polydor International, 1976. This recording of Punkte reissued with Formel, Schlagtrio, and Spiel, on Stockhausen Complete Edition CD 2. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 2005.
1993 version
- Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Gruppen für drei Orchester; Punkte. WDR Symphony Orchester, Arturo Tamayo, Péter EötvösPeter EötvösPéter Eötvös is a Hungarian composer and conductor.Eötvös was born in Odorheiu Secuiesc/Székelyudvarhely, Szeklerland, Transylvania . He studied composition in Budapest and Cologne. From 1962, he composed for film in Hungary. Eötvös played regularly with the Stockhausen Ensemble between 1968 and...
, Jacques Mercier, conds. (in Gruppen); Péter Eötvös, cond. (in Punkte). BMC CD 117. Punkte reissued separately, with a spoken introduction by the composer in German and English, on Stockhausen Complete Edition CD 81. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 2005.