Magic Names:
Collective of Performing Artists

Stimmung (Paris Version 1968) by Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007)

Stimmung is a formidable 70-minute work for six singers and a subtle sine-wave drone B-flat 9th chord.  The score calls for nearly constant singing of quickly fluctuating overtone phonemes in polyrhythmic overlapping patterns, creating a Western-influenced overtone singing style.  Aleatoric sections of the piece pit one singer against another – creating rhythmic disruptions and pitch deviations, beat frequencies, and other sound events that are reminiscent of the composer’s work for tape and electronics. 

The meditative atmosphere is interrupted here and there by lusty singsong texts, and by announcements of the “magic names” of ancient gods and goddesses.  Poetic levity is incorporated into otherworldly intonation.  Stimmung — a highly influential avant-garde masterpiece — provided inspiration for the spectral composition school that emerged in 1970’s Paris.