''Kurzwellen'' (Short Waves), for six players with

shortwave radio receiver A shortwave radio receiver is a radio receiver that can receive one or more shortwave bands, between 1.6 and 30 MHz. A shortwave radio receiver often receives other broadcast bands, such as FM radio, Longwave and Mediumwave. Shortwave radio receiv ...

s and

live electronics Live electronic music (also known as live electronics) is a form of music that can include traditional electronic sound-generating devices, modified electric musical instruments, hacked sound generating technologies, and computers. Initially the pr ...

, is a composition by

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) 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. He is known for his groun ...

, written in 1968. It is Number 25 in the catalog of the composer's works.

Conception

''Kurzwellen'' is one of a series of works dating from the 1960s which Stockhausen designated as "

process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management *Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...

" 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 ''Kurzwellen'' and three subsequent works (''

Spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving farther away as it revolves around the point. Helices Two major definitions of "spiral" in the American Heritage Dictionary are:Pole Pole may refer to: Astronomy *Celestial pole, the projection of the planet Earth's axis of rotation onto the celestial sphere; also applies to the axis of rotation of other planets *Pole star, a visible star that is approximately aligned with the ...

'' for two, and ''

Expo An expo is a trade exposition. It may also refer to: Events and venues * World's fair, a large international public exposition * Singapore Expo, convention and exposition venue ** Expo Axis, one of the world's largest membrane roofs, constructe ...

'' for three), this material is to be drawn spontaneously during the performance from

shortwave radio Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...

broadcasts. While this separate treatment of the genetic rules for development had existed in Stockhausen's earlier compositions, the emphasis on the process of transformation and less specificity of what is to be transformed is taken further than ever before in ''Kurzwellen''. The overall formal process is therefore fixed, whereas the sound materials are extremely variable. 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". While the use of radios in concert works dates back at least to 1942 with

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

's ''Credo in Us'', and Stockhausen may well have gotten the idea of using radios from Cage, their approaches could not have been more different. For Cage, the type of radio is a matter of indifference, since their purpose is merely to fill in prescribed time units with any sort of sound at all. Stockhausen, on the other hand, prescribed shortwave receivers because of their capability of bringing in broadcasts from far away, and for the rich variety of available sounds. These sounds are also not used indiscriminately: the performers are to search for and select only materials suitable for improvisational transformations.

History

''Kurzwellen'' was initially sketched during a tour of Czechoslovakia made by Stockhausen's ensemble in late March and early April 1968, and was completed soon afterward. The premiere took place on 5 May 1968 in the television studios of

Radio Bremen Radio Bremen (RB), Germany's smallest public radio and television broadcaster, is the legally mandated broadcaster for the city-state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (which includes Bremerhaven). With its headquarters sited in Bremen, Radio Brem ...

, as part of the Pro Musica Nova festival, and is dedicated to Hugo Wolfram Schmidt, the initiator of the Cologne Courses for New Music. The performers at the premiere were Aloys Kontarsky, piano, Alfred Alings and

Rolf Gehlhaar Rolf Rainer Gehlhaar (30 December 1943 – 7 July 2019), was an American composer, Professor in Experimental Music at Coventry University and researcher in assistive technology for music. Life Born in Breslau, Gehlhaar was the son of a German roc ...

, tamtam,

Johannes Fritsch Johannes Georg Fritsch (27 July 1941 – 29 April 2010) 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 Kna ...

, viola, , electronium, and Karlheinz Stockhausen, filters and potentiometers.

Performance practice

The composer 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". Each performer plays a series of events separated by pauses. An event may be played either with the radio or with an instrument, and it is also possible for a player to accompany an event on an instrument with the radio or vice versa, or to blend both together. Each event has a distinct duration defined by its subdivision into segments with a characteristic rhythm. 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 (from Greek δυναμικός ''dynamikos'' "powerful", from δύναμις ''dynamis'' "power") or dynamic may refer to: Physics and engineering * Dynamics (mechanics) ** Aerodynamics, the study of the motion of air ** Analytical dyna ...

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. Despite this, 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.

Opus 1970

For the

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

bicentennial in 1970, Stockhausen created a version of ''Kurzwellen'' that supposed a special case in which all radio stations just happened to be broadcasting material by Beethoven. This version is known variously as ''Kurzwellen mit Beethoven'', ''Kurzwellen mit Beethoven-Musik'', ''Stockhoven-Beethausen'', and ''Opus 1970''. In order to produce this situation, Stockhausen replaced the radios with four different tape collages of excerpts from Beethoven compositions interspersed with readings (by Stockhausen) from the

Heiligenstadt Testament The Heiligenstadt Testament is a letter written by Ludwig van Beethoven to his brothers Carl and Johann at Heiligenstadt on 6 October 1802. It reflects his despair over his increasing deafness, even his contemplation of suicide, and his continue ...

, subjected to a variety of electronic transformations to simulate the effect of shortwave transmissions. These tapes could be "tuned in and out" by the performers, just like radio transmissions.

Structure

Everything in ''Kurzwellen'' is governed by permutations of four-member sets. For example, the whole of the piece is divided into four large sections with increasing numbers of events, proportioned as 4:5:7:10.2. Within each of these progressively larger segments, the numbers of planned ensembles (synchronous or alternating duos, trios, and quartets) also increases: 5:6:7:14.

Discography

* ''Karlheinz Stockhausen: Kurzwellen''. Aloys Kontarsky, piano; Harald Bojé, electronium; Alfred Alings and Rolf Gehlhaar, tamtam with microphone; Johannes Fritsch, viola; Karlheinz Stockhausen, sound direction. Two performances, recorded 4 May 1968 and 9 April 1969. DGG 2-LP set. DG 2707 045. First recording reissued as part of compact disc '' Litanei 97—Kurzwellen''. Stockhausen Complete Edition CD 61. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 2000. Second recording reissued on compact disc ''Kurzwellen''. Stockhausen Complete Edition CD 13. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 1992. * ''Karlheinz Stockhausen: Opus 1970: Stockhoven-Beethausen''. Deutsche Grammophon LP. DG 139461. Reissued on disc 3 of 3-CD set, ''Stockhausen: "Stockhoven-Beethausen": Opus 1970, Gespräch 1977''. Stockhausen Text-CD 23. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 2011 iner_notes_by_Wolfgang_Rathert.html" ;"title="Wolfgang_Rathert.html" ;"title="iner notes by Wolfgang Rathert">iner notes by Wolfgang Rathert">Wolfgang_Rathert.html" ;"title="iner notes by Wolfgang Rathert">iner notes by Wolfgang Rathert Two excerpts reissued on the CD accompanying. * ''Stockhausen Played by The Negative Band: Short Wave'' ; ''Set Sail for the Sun''. The Negative Band (Michael Fink, percussion; Earl Howard, alto saxophone; Denman Maroney, piano; David Simons, percussion; Joseph Paul Taylor, synthesizer; Jonathan Weisberger, filter and sound direction). Recorded 29 May 1974. Finnadar LP SR 9009. New York: Finnadar Records, 1975. * Stockhausen: ''Weltausstellung 1970''. Two interviews, and the second half of ''Kurzwellen'', recorded April 1970 in the spherical auditorium of the German pavilion at Expo 70.

Péter Eötvös Péter Eötvös ( hu, Eötvös Péter, ; born 2 January 1944) is a Hungarian composer, conductor and teacher. Eötvös was born in Székelyudvarhely, Transylvania, then part of Hungary, now Romania. He studied composition in Budapest and Colog ...

, piano; Johannes Fritsch, viola; Harald Bojé, electronium;

, tamtam; Mesías Maiguashca, potentiometers. Stockhausen Text-CD 21. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 2009. * Stockhausen: ''Kurzwellen''. C.L.S.I. Ensemble;

Paul Méfano Paul Méfano (March 6, 1937 – September 15, 2020), was a French composer and conductor. Biography Paul Méfano was born in Basra, Iraq. He pursued musical studies at the École Normale de Musique de Paris, and then later at the Paris Conservat ...

, conductor. Recorded January 2012 at GRM Studios, Radio France, Paris. Mode CD 302. Issued 2018.

References

Cited sources

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