Stockhausen

In the last decade, Thomas Ulrich has made a significant contribution towards demystifying the rich theological associations in Karlheinz Stockhausen’s works. Recently, the Stockhausen Verlag translated and published the first half of his book, which deals with Stockhausen (Neue Musik aus religiösem Geist: Theologisches Denken im Werk von Karlheinz Stockhausen und John Cage (Saarbrücken, 2006)). Not simply a theologian with academic facility, Ulrich has also distinguished himself by serving as the dramaturge for several recent staged productions of Stockhausen’s works, including the memorable 2011 premiere of Sonntag aus Licht in Cologne. Ulrich’s book provides a valuable but somewhat limited perspective on theological thinking in Stockhausen. It has long been known that Stockhausen’s creations are inundated with theological meaning. The composer himself fancifully called his works a ‘fast airship to the divine’. While many have emphasized the variety of religious influences on his works, and Stockhausen often alluded to a diverse array of religious inspiration (perhaps most memorably in the calling of divine names in Stimmung but also at numerous other moments, particularly in the Licht cycle), Ulrich treats the compositional project primarily as an expression of Christian epistemology. His main thesis is that ‘Stockhausen’s theological aporia fuelled his artistic development until he found a stable basis for his work in formula composition’ (p. viii). Ulrich’s methodology seems cautious but prudent: begin by examining the works themselves, not the ‘abyss of motives to which Stockhausen occasionally refers’ (p. ix). He arranges Stockhausen’s oeuvre by compositional technique, beginning with the early serial music up to about 1954, then moving to Group and Moment form, continuing with Process and Intuitive music, and concluding with Formula and Superformula composition. Notwithstanding these four categories, Ulrich’s underlying goal is to demonstrate unity in the composer’s life work.

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