Stockhausen, << SHTOHK how zehn, >> Karlheinz (1928-2007), a German composer, was a leading force in the development of modern music beginning in the early 1950’s. Stockhausen created music from unusual sounds. His music uses synthetic electronic sounds and such everyday noises as radio static, speech, and street sounds. Stockhausen sometimes distorted these sounds electronically.
Stockhausen experimented with chance music, in which the performer determines the order in which the sections of a composition are played. In such works as Gruppen (Groups, 1955-1957) for three orchestras, he scattered performers throughout the concert hall to produce a live stereo effect called music in space. Stockhausen composed Kontakte (1960), for electronic sounds, piano, and percussion; and the electronic work Hymnen (1967), which weaves together the national anthems of more than 40 countries. Stockhausen was born on Aug. 22, 1928, in Modrath, near Cologne. He died on Dec. 5, 2007.
