KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN

 

Stimmung

 

Theatre of Voices / Paul Hillier

 

With the première of Stimmung, Stockhausen redefined the very notion of what vocal music is. This series of sonic sequences, entirely built on the overtones of B flat in multiple combinations, embraces new musical techniques and explores the inner world of speech and song. Paul Hillier, a specialist in contemporary vocal repertoire, proves in his new recording that this milestone of 20th-century music is still as relevant as ever.

 

Hillier's long relationship with Stimmung began in the 1970s when he performed it as a member of Singcircle with Stockhausen himself at the controls.Written in 1968, a year of revolt and idealism, it is a definitive work of the era based on one chord for its 70-minute duration. Staged for six miked singers seated around a table, it allows the performers space to improvise and influence the outcome of the overall performance. The serene but highly charged aural landscape of Stimmung has global roots originating in Stockhausen's absorption ofmusical experiences as he traveled the world in the 1950s and '60s: from mystic experiences in Mexico to Tibetan overtone singing.

 

“In this new edition, Hillier has succeeded triumphantly in his aim of more accurately realising the effect of the piece in concert, rather than the sometimes disconcertingly in-your-ear close-mic immediacy of Singcircle's recording, superbly performed though it was.” BBC Music October

 

"All credit to Paul Hillier's Denmark-based Theatre of Voices - first for producing a mesmerising performance, and secondly for touring it around Britain. Hillier himself sang the work in the Seventies, and that experience was evident here in both the pacing of the piece and the poise of the performers. Stimmung itself is beautiful and mysterious: a group therapy, a love-in, and a pioneering exploration of the interplay between vocal cords and vocal chords." The Times

 

Harmonia Mundi SACD HMU807408