Spiral (Stockhausen)
Encyclopedia
Spiral for a soloist with a shortwave
receiver, is a composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen
, written in 1968. It is Number 27 in the catalogue of the composer’s works.
" compositions. These works in effect separate the "form" from the "content" by presenting the performers with a series of transformation signs which are to be applied to material that may vary considerably from one performance to the next. In Spiral and three companion works (Kurzwellen
for six performers, Pole
for two, and Expo for three), this material is to be drawn spontaneously during the performance from short-wave radio broadcasts (Kohl 1981, 192–93). The processes, indicated primarily by plus, minus, and equal signs, constitute the composition and, despite the unpredictability of the materials, these processes can be heard from one performance to another as being "the same" (Kohl 2010, 137).
in September 1968 and was premiered on 15 May 1969 at the Muzički Biennale Zagreb
, with the oboist Heinz Holliger
as the soloist (Stockhausen 1971, 140). Holliger performed it subsequently in Saint-Paul de Vence
(Vetter 2000, 103), and on 10 July 1969 at the Cheltenham Music Festival
(Sadie 1969). Between 14 March and 14 September 1970, Spiral was given 1300 times at Expo 70 in Osaka, Japan, in daily performances by twenty different musicians including the composer. The score is dedicated to the other nineteen: the six singers of the Collegium Vocale Köln
(Dagmar Apel, Gaby Rodens, Helga Albrecht, Wolfgang Fromme, Siegfried Bernhöft, and Hans Alderich Billig), and instrumentalists David C. Johnson (flute with synthesizer), Michael Vetter
(electric recorder), Edward Tarr
(trumpet), Karlheinz Böttner (electric guitar), Christoph Caskel and Michael Ranta (percussion), Rolf Gehlhaar
(tamtam), Harald Bojé (electronium and piano), Peter Eötvös
(55-chord and piano), Gérard Frémy and Aloys Kontarsky (piano), Johannes Fritsch
(electric viola), and Mesías Maiguashca
(sound direction) (Stockhausen 1971, 140).
Each plus, minus, or equal sign indicates that, upon repetition of an event, the performer is to increase, decrease, or maintain the same level in one of four musical dimensions (or "parameters"): overall duration of the event, number of internal subdivisions, dynamic
level, or pitch register/range. It is up to the performer to decide which of these dimensions is to be affected, except that vertically stacked signs must be applied to different parameters (Stockhausen 1973, 1, 11, 21). Despite this indeterminacy, a large number of plus signs (for example) will result in successive events becoming longer, more finely subdivided, louder, and either higher or wider in range; a large number of minus signs will produce the reverse effect (Kohl 2010, 137). To the signs previously used in Prozession and Kurzwellen, Stockhausen adds a dozen new ones. An especially important one is the "spiral sign", consisting of a column of different combinations of four or five plus or minus signs bracketed by repeat marks. At this sign, the performer is to repeat the previous event several times, transposing it each time in all parameters, and attempt to transcend not only previous limits reached in the piece, but also to go beyond the limitations of the instrument/voice itself. In doing this, the performer is encouraged to employ visual and theatrical possibilities (Stockhausen 1973, 3–4, 13–14, 23–24). Because there are only seven "spiral" signs altogether, not every section contains one of them (Vetter 2000, 103). Spiral is not ordinarily performed complete: the performer may end a version at any of the wavy barlines, and then for the next performance should resume where the previous one left off. On the other hand, the end of the score is marked "da capo
" so that, should a chosen starting point result in the end being reached too soon, the performer may continue again from the beginning. Most performances last between fifteen and twenty-five minutes, and Stockhausen did not authorise a full-length version until Michael Vetter convinced him to permit such a thing (Vetter 2000, 103–104). The first complete performance was realised by Michael Vetter and was recorded on 22 November 1995 at the Ballhorn Tonstudio in Odenthal (Stockhausen and Vetter 1996, 17 and 75).
Shortwave
Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...
receiver, is a composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen
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"...
, written in 1968. It is Number 27 in the catalogue of the composer’s works.
Conception
Spiral is one of a series of works dating from the 1960s which Stockhausen designated as "processProcess music
Process music is music that arises from a process. It may make that process audible to the listener, or the process may be concealed. Primarily begun in the 1960s, diverse composers have employed divergent methods and styles of process...
" compositions. These works in effect separate the "form" from the "content" by presenting the performers with a series of transformation signs which are to be applied to material that may vary considerably from one performance to the next. In Spiral and three companion works (Kurzwellen
Kurzwellen
Kurzwellen , for six players with shortwave receivers and live electronics, is a composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen, written in 1968. It is Number 25 in the catalog of the composer’s works.-Conception:...
for six performers, Pole
Pole (Stockhausen)
Pole , for two performers with shortwave receivers and a sound projectionist, is a composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen, written in 1970. It is Number 30 in the catalogue of the composer's works.-Conception:...
for two, and Expo for three), this material is to be drawn spontaneously during the performance from short-wave radio broadcasts (Kohl 1981, 192–93). The processes, indicated primarily by plus, minus, and equal signs, constitute the composition and, despite the unpredictability of the materials, these processes can be heard from one performance to another as being "the same" (Kohl 2010, 137).
History
Spiral was composed in Madison, ConnecticutMadison, Connecticut
Madison is a town in the southeastern corner of New Haven County, Connecticut, occupying a central location on Connecticut's Long Island Sound shoreline. The population was 18,812 at the 2000 census....
in September 1968 and was premiered on 15 May 1969 at the Muzički Biennale Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, with the oboist Heinz Holliger
Heinz Holliger
Heinz Holliger Heinz Holliger Heinz Holliger (born 21 May 1939 is a Swiss oboist, composer and conductor.-Biography:He was born in Langenthal, Switzerland, and began his musical education at the conservatories of Bern and Basel. He studied composition with Sándor Veress and Pierre Boulez...
as the soloist (Stockhausen 1971, 140). Holliger performed it subsequently in Saint-Paul de Vence
Saint-Paul, Alpes-Maritimes
Saint-Paul or Saint-Paul-de-Vence is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. One of the oldest medieval towns on the French Riviera, it is well-known for its modern and contemporary art museums and galleries such as Fondation Maeght which is located nearby.The property...
(Vetter 2000, 103), and on 10 July 1969 at the Cheltenham Music Festival
Cheltenham Music Festival
The Cheltenham Music Festival is one of the oldest music festivals in Britain, held annually in Cheltenham in June/July since 1945. The festival is renowned for premieres of contemporary music, hosting over 250 music premieres as of July 2004....
(Sadie 1969). Between 14 March and 14 September 1970, Spiral was given 1300 times at Expo 70 in Osaka, Japan, in daily performances by twenty different musicians including the composer. The score is dedicated to the other nineteen: the six singers of the Collegium Vocale Köln
Collegium Vocale Köln
Collegium Vocale Köln is a German vocal ensemble, founded in 1966 as a quintet when its members were still students at the Rheinische Musikschule in Cologne. It is directed by Wolfgang Fromme, who also sings tenor in the ensemble...
(Dagmar Apel, Gaby Rodens, Helga Albrecht, Wolfgang Fromme, Siegfried Bernhöft, and Hans Alderich Billig), and instrumentalists David C. Johnson (flute with synthesizer), Michael Vetter
Michael Vetter
Michael Vetter is a German composer, novelist, poet, performer, calligrapher, artist, and teacher.-Biography:Vetter was born in Oberstdorf in the Allgäu region of Germany, and received a conventional school education...
(electric recorder), Edward Tarr
Edward Tarr
Edward Hankins Tarr , is an American trumpet player and musicologist. He has been a pioneer in the revival of Baroque and Romantic era trumpet performance practice....
(trumpet), Karlheinz Böttner (electric guitar), Christoph Caskel and Michael Ranta (percussion), Rolf Gehlhaar
Rolf Gehlhaar
Rolf Gehlhaar in Breslau , is an American composer.Gehlhaar is the son of a German rocket scientist, who emigrated to the United States in 1953 to work at a rocket-development research centre in New Mexico...
(tamtam), Harald Bojé (electronium and piano), Peter Eötvös
Peter Eötvös
Péter 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...
(55-chord and piano), Gérard Frémy and Aloys Kontarsky (piano), Johannes Fritsch
Johannes Fritsch
Johannes G. Fritsch was a German composer.At the age of seven, Fritsch found a violin in the attic of his uncle's house in Bensheim-Auerbach, Germany, and began lessons with a village music teacher named Knapp...
(electric viola), and Mesías Maiguashca
Mesías Maiguashca
Mesías Maiguashca , is an Ecuadorian composer, an advocate of the new music, especially electroacoustic music.-Biography:...
(sound direction) (Stockhausen 1971, 140).
Structure and technique
Spiral consists of a sequence of 206 events, grouped into ten sections which are divided in the score by wavy barlines. Stockhausen explained that in pieces like this, "the first step is always that of imitating something and the next step is that of transforming what you're able to imitate" (Cott 1973, 33). The first event is realized with the short-wave receiver and the instrument/voice together. The subsequent events freely alternate performance by the radio, by the instrument or voice, and their combination, though a balance should be aimed for between events with and without radio sounds (Stockhausen 1973, 1, 11, 21).Each plus, minus, or equal sign indicates that, upon repetition of an event, the performer is to increase, decrease, or maintain the same level in one of four musical dimensions (or "parameters"): overall duration of the event, number of internal subdivisions, dynamic
Dynamics (music)
In music, dynamics normally refers to the volume of a sound or note, but can also refer to every aspect of the execution of a given piece, either stylistic or functional . The term is also applied to the written or printed musical notation used to indicate dynamics...
level, or pitch register/range. It is up to the performer to decide which of these dimensions is to be affected, except that vertically stacked signs must be applied to different parameters (Stockhausen 1973, 1, 11, 21). Despite this indeterminacy, a large number of plus signs (for example) will result in successive events becoming longer, more finely subdivided, louder, and either higher or wider in range; a large number of minus signs will produce the reverse effect (Kohl 2010, 137). To the signs previously used in Prozession and Kurzwellen, Stockhausen adds a dozen new ones. An especially important one is the "spiral sign", consisting of a column of different combinations of four or five plus or minus signs bracketed by repeat marks. At this sign, the performer is to repeat the previous event several times, transposing it each time in all parameters, and attempt to transcend not only previous limits reached in the piece, but also to go beyond the limitations of the instrument/voice itself. In doing this, the performer is encouraged to employ visual and theatrical possibilities (Stockhausen 1973, 3–4, 13–14, 23–24). Because there are only seven "spiral" signs altogether, not every section contains one of them (Vetter 2000, 103). Spiral is not ordinarily performed complete: the performer may end a version at any of the wavy barlines, and then for the next performance should resume where the previous one left off. On the other hand, the end of the score is marked "da capo
Da capo
Da Capo is a musical term in Italian, meaning from the beginning . It is often abbreviated D.C. It is a composer or publisher's directive to repeat the previous part of music, often used to save space. In small pieces this might be the same thing as a repeat, but in larger works D.C...
" so that, should a chosen starting point result in the end being reached too soon, the performer may continue again from the beginning. Most performances last between fifteen and twenty-five minutes, and Stockhausen did not authorise a full-length version until Michael Vetter convinced him to permit such a thing (Vetter 2000, 103–104). The first complete performance was realised by Michael Vetter and was recorded on 22 November 1995 at the Ballhorn Tonstudio in Odenthal (Stockhausen and Vetter 1996, 17 and 75).
Discography
- Karlheinz Stockhausen, Sylvano BussottiSylvano BussottiSylvano Bussotti is an Italian composer of contemporary music whose work is unusually notated and often creates special problems of interpretation.Born in Florence, Bussotti learned to play the violin as a child, becoming a prodigy...
. Spiral für einen Spieler und Kurzwellen (1968); Rara (dolce) für Blockflöte (Duofassung (1966). Michael VetterMichael VetterMichael Vetter is a German composer, novelist, poet, performer, calligrapher, artist, and teacher.-Biography:Vetter was born in Oberstdorf in the Allgäu region of Germany, and received a conventional school education...
, voice, amplified alto recorder head joint, shortwave radio. Wergo Taschendiskothek 20. Jahrhundert. 7-inch LP. Wergo WER 325. Baden-Baden: Wergo Schallplatten GmbH, [1969]. Spiral reissued (with two versions of ZyklusZyklusZyklus für einen Schlagzeuger is a composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen, assigned Number 9 in the composer's catalog of works. It was composed in 1959 at the request of Wolfgang Steinecke as a test piece for a percussion competition at the Darmstadt Summer Courses, where it was premièred on 25...
) 12-inch LP. WERGO Hör Zu Black Label SHZW 903BL. - Heinz HolligerHeinz HolligerHeinz Holliger Heinz Holliger Heinz Holliger (born 21 May 1939 is a Swiss oboist, composer and conductor.-Biography:He was born in Langenthal, Switzerland, and began his musical education at the conservatories of Bern and Basel. He studied composition with Sándor Veress and Pierre Boulez...
(oboe and short-wave radio; Stockhausen, sound direction). With Holliger: Siebengesang. DG LP. DG 2561 109. - Stockhausen: Spiral (Version Elektrochord), Wach (aus den 17 Texten intuitiver Musik Für kommende Zeiten), Spiral (Version Elektronium), Japan (aus den 17 Texten intuitiver Musik Für kommende Zeiten), Pole (Version Elektronium & Elektrochord). Harald Bojé (electronium, shortwave radio, Japanese woodblock); 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...
(electrochord, schalmai, japanese bamboo flute, shortwave radio); Christoph Caskel (percussion); Karlheinz Stockhausen (sound direction). (Recorded 8–10 December 1971, No. 2 Sudio, Abbey Road, London.) EMI 2-LP set. EMI Electrola C165-02 313/314. Cologne: The Gramophone Company Ltd., EMI Electrola GmbH, 1973. Reissued with additional material (Zyklus for a percussionist, Tristan Fry, percussion; Tierkreis for trumpet and organ, and In Freundschaft for trumpet, Markus StockhausenMarkus StockhausenMarkus Pirol Stockhausen is a German trumpeter and composer.-Biography:Born in Cologne, he is the son of composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. At age four he appeared as "child at play" in his father's theatre piece Originals. He received his first piano lessons at age six, and at age twelve he began to...
, trumpet, Margareta Hurholz, organ). 2-CD set. EMI Classics 6 95598 2. [N.p.]: EMI Records Ltd, 2009. - Bojé and Eötvös (different versions from the EMI set). Spiral (2 Versionen); Pole. Peter Eötvös, Harald Bojé, Karlheinz Stockhausen. (Recorded 18 April 1971 at WDR, Cologne.) Stockhausen Complete Edition CD 15. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 1994.
- Knut Sönstevold Plays Stockhausen. (Solo, In FreundschaftIn FreundschaftIn Freundschaft is a composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen, number 46 in his catalogue of works, which is playable on a wide variety of solo instruments.-History:...
, Spiral, and TierkreisTierkreis (Stockhausen)Tierkreis is a musical composition by the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. The title is the German word for Zodiac, and the composition consists of twelve melodies, each representing one sign of the zodiac.-History:...
.) Knut Sønstevold (bassoon); Kina Sønstevold (piano, in Tierkreis). CD. Nosag CD 042. Huddinge, Sweden: Nosag Records, 2000. - Organic Oboe. Joseph CelliJoseph CelliJoseph Celli is an American musician and composer specializing in contemporary and improvised music for oboe and English horn...
(oboe, cor anglais, shortwave receiver, voice, kazoo, wah-wah pedal, and various auxiliary sound producers). With Celli, Sky: S for J; Elliott SchwartzElliott SchwartzElliott Schwartz is an American composer. A graduate of Columbia University, He was Beckwith Professor Emeritus of music at Bowdoin College joining the faculty in 1964. In 2006, the Library of Congress acquired his papers to make them part of their permanent collection...
, Extended Oboe; Malcolm GoldsteinMalcolm GoldsteinMalcolm Goldstein is a composer, violinist and improviser who has been active in the presentation of new music and dance since the early 1960s. He received an M.A. in music composition from Columbia University in 1960, having studied with Otto Luening...
, A Summoning of Focus. LP. O.O. Records 1. Hartford, Connecticut: Organic Oboe, Inc., 1978. Reissued on CD. O.O. Discs #1. [n.p.]: O.O. Disc Inc., 1991. - Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Spiral (1968) for a Soloist. Eberhard Blum (flute, voice, and shortwave receiver). (4 versions). CD. hatART CD 6132. Therwil: Hat Hut Records, 1993.
- Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Solo (2 Versionen)—Spiral. Cathy Milliken (voice, oboe, digeridoo), in Spiral; Dietmar Wiesner (flute) and Simon Stockhausen (synthesizer), each in one version of Solo. Stockhausen Complete Edition CD 45. Kürten: Stockhausen-Vrlag, 1995.
- Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Spiral, Integrale Version. Michael Vetter, voice and short-wave receiver. 2-CD set. Stockhausen Complete Edition CD 46 A–B. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 1996.
- Warp Works & Twentieth Century MastersWarp Works & Twentieth Century MastersWarp Works & Twentieth Century Masters is a 2-CD set consisting of live performances by the London Sinfonietta, released by Warp Records in 2006...
. Clive Williamson; Rolf Hind; Clio Gould; Simon Haram; Jurjen Hempel; Stefan Asbury; Aphex Twin.; Conlon Nancarrow; John Cage; Steve Reich; Squarepusher (Musician); Karlheinz Stockhausen; Edgard Varèse; György Ligeti. 2006, 2003. 2-CD set. WARPCD144; [S.l.]: Warp,
Further reading
- Stockhausen, Karlheinz. 2009. Kompositorische Grundlagen Neuer Musik: Sechs Seminare für die Darmstädter Ferienkurse 1970, edited by Imke Misch. Kürten: Stockhausen-Stiftung für Musik. ISBN 978-3-00-027313-1.
- Wörner, Karl Heinz. 1973. Stockhausen: Life and Work, translated by Bill Hopkins. Berkeley: University of California Press.