Stockhausen's Piano Pieces: Some Notes for the Listener

Author(s): Roger Smalley

Source: The Musical Times, Vol. 110, No. 1511 (Jan., 1969), pp. 30-32
Published by: Musical Times Publications Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/953728
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 Stockhausen's Piano Pieces
Some notes for the listener
Roger Smalley
In the notes accompanying the recent recording1 of
his complete piano works, Stockhausen writes:
In spite of, or rather because of, the very con-
siderable significance of timbre (Klangfarben)
composition in my electronic music and in my
orchestral and vocal works, from time to time I
have concentrated again on 'Piano Pieces', on
composing for a single instrument, for ten
fingers, with minute nuances of timbres and
structures. They are my drawings.
This statement admirably characterizes the musical
content of these two records, and in addition sug-
gests, perhaps, the frame of mind in which we as
listeners can most valuably approach them. In
many respects these eleven piano pieces are the
most refined of all Stockhausen's works. Lacking
both the overwhelming sonorous and spatial effects
of the large orchestral, choral and electronic works
(Gruppen, Carre, Momente, Kontakte), and the
grandiose programmatic and philosophical prob-
lems posed by much of his recent music (Hymnen,
Momente, Telemusik), they rely for their cohesion
and power on the realization and perception of pure
structure.
Because the pieces themselves force us, by their
very nature, to concentrate on structure, I want in
this article to try and indicate some of the structural
processes at work and how we may perceive them.
There are additional reasons. The first is the exist-
ence of the records on which the playing (by Aloys
Kontarsky) and recording (supervised by the com-
poser) are of superlative quality. The second is the
fact that the scores of all eleven pieces are published,2
that they are not unduly expensive, and that some of
the pieces (3, 5, 7, 9) are easy enough to be tackled by
any pianist of average technique. Finally, the
emphasis on structure also provides a useful anti-
dote to those who criticize Stockhausen's music on
the grounds of being merely sound effects with no
form or development, and, conversely, to those who
do like his music simply because it is full of startling
new sounds.
First a word about the chronology of the pieces.
A complete set of 21 piano pieces was planned in
1954, divided into six cycles: 1-4, 5-10, 11, 12-16,
17-19, 20-21, of which only the first eleven have as
yet been completed. Pieces 1-4 were written in
1952-3, in the order 3, 2, 1, 4. Pieces 5-10 were
written in 1954-5 and number 11 in 1956. In 1961
revised versions were made of 9 and 10.
In his analysis3 of Piece 3, Dieter Schnebel has
shown that even though the basic premise is the
equality of all parameters, during the actual process
of composition the relationships set up between the
'cBS 77209 (two records, 87s 7d)
2Universal
3Die Reihe, iv, 121
30
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various parameters become more important than
their individual identity. Diverse elements become
inextricably knotted together and produce the
identity of the piece itself, a total form which is at
the same time more simple and more complex than
the sum of its parts. (This is shown particularly
clearly by the diagram on page 131.) Once the
result of a process has been discovered, one moves
on a stage further. The recognition that the dis-
cretely considered elements of pointillist composition
tended to coalesce into characteristic groups in the
end product led Stockhausen to the notion of com-
position with the groups themselves (a similar
development can be observed between Boulez's
first and second books of Structures).
Stockhausen has written4: 'In pieces 1-4 a transi-
tion from pointillist music to group composition
can be discerned'. This new idea of groups can be
seen at its most highly developed in the first piece.
On the page the music has a formidable look, but
closer examination and repeated hearings will prove
that it is in fact formed from the contrast and con-
tinuity of a large number of highly characterized
groups. The following is a translation of Stock-
hausen's own commentary on the first group of
Piece 1 (see ex 1):
The 1st group has ten attacks and a directional
movement in medium-sized pitch-intervals from
the lowest to the highest register. Two intervals,
however, are descenrding. The first separates the
whole group into two sub-groups of five and
seven pitches respectively. The second descend-
ing interval in the middle register coincides with
one which ascends from the low register, and so
continues the movement towards the high
register, and in addition articulates the second
sub-group. In the first sub-group the pitches are
sharply demarcated by differentiated dynamics;
in the second group, however, they are of equal
intensity.
Correspondingly, in the first sub-group the
pitches are of different durations, those of the
second being fairly closely related or equal in
their durations. At two places in the second sub-
group, two pitches are struck simultaneously. A
4Texte, i, 63
, rl: 0----.10.---------------
11---------------,10-- - -
Nf ? ---- -*---
 single sound quality unites the group by means
of the notated held pedal. Rhythmically this
means: the pitches are struck consecutively, but
they end simultaneously with the release of the
pedal. The tempo of the group is moderate and
accelerates in the second sub-group. The entire
group has a duration of five crotchets.
In essence he seems to be saying that the music
should be perceived in terms of its direction,
density, speed, dynamic level etc; and the unity of
the piece (from the listener's point of view) will
become apparent when we recognize the intricate
network of similarities and differences which exist
between the groups. It is consistent with this
approach that the pitch organization should be on a
fairly simple level. It would be possible to deduce a
12-note row from the first bar, but this seems to
function only as a pair of unordered hexachords,
and is in fact used as such throughout the rest of the
piece.
One noticeable feature of ex 1 is the unprecedented
complexity of the irrational values. These can just
about be realized by a solo performer-in an
ensemble situation they would become meaningless.
Listening first to this piece and then to, say, the fifth
(which uses no irrational values at all) one can per-
ceive no essential difference in the types of rhythmic
articulation present. This is because Stockhausen
has found a much simpler and more satisfactory
method of achieving rhythmic diversity. This
system also recognizes the fact that in any musical
context certain notes will emerge as more important
than others. It is, in essence, a system of grace-notes
whose rhythmic profile is determined by the dex-
terity of the performer and the expressive demands
of their context. The principal notes can be attached
to either the beginning or the end of the passage of
grace notes, or can emerge from the middle of them.
Ex 2 (from Piece 5) shows examples of all three
types.
p
t-t
PIP
LTLL: m~l ' II MAD I Iw
.pPP mp
Throughout the second cycle of pieces it be-
comes progressively easier to perceive overall, as
opposed to local, structure. The basic types of
material become highly differentiated and are
isolated from each other by an increasingly signi-
ficant use of silence. Particularly clear in structure
is Piece 8 in which the three main ideas-com-
plex contrapuntal passages, long held single notes,
and outbreaks of very fast violent chords-cannot
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fail to be recognized. Also important is the struc-
tural use of tempo. Pieces 5-8 all use the 12 tempi
used in Gruppen (although only the Piece 6 uses all
12). Jonathan Harvey5 has shown how these tempi
are used to delineate the formal divisions of
Piece 5 and also how the overall formal structure is
built out of a careful control of density and rate of
pitch eventuation. Each of the basic types of
material reaches its climax at a different point in the
piece so that the overall form can be likened to a
series of interlocking cycles, each with its independ-
ently achieved peak (as in Plus-Minus and Zyklus).
Another form-building technique is the use of
different modes of attack. This is of particular
importance in Pieces 6 and 11. Modes of attack
include playing staccato with the right pedal
half down, playing staccato and immediately rede-
pressing the key silently so as to obtain an echo, and
gradually releasing the key so that the sound be-
comes softer and brighter. These techniques of
playing, previously used only in a colouristic and
articulative role, assume in these pieces a structural
function. Being of a particularly subtle nature they
can be heard perhaps best of all on a gramophone
record.
The structural use of grace notes, and of silence,
feature most prominently in Piece 10. The basic
structure of large notes becomes almost submerged
under the cascades of grace-notes, clusters, and
cluster-glissandi. As in the recomposition of Punkte
(1962) the added material no longer merely decorates
and amplifies the basic material but forms a new
layer of equal (if not greater) importance, so that the
piece seems almost to exist in two dimensions at
once. The form of Piece 10 is unusual in that it
begins at the point of greatest complexity and
gradually becomes simpler as it progresses. The
first five-and-a-half pages present in almost chaotic
juxtaposition all the ideas of the entire piece. There-
after the ideas become separated and developed-for
instance the single repeated note at the top of p.2 is
developed at length on pp.28-9 and again on p.34,
and the whole concept of chromatically involuted
grace-notes is presented in a new, almost impres-
sionistic light on pp.34-5. The long silences in this
piece are virtually never really silent; they are
'coloured' by the delicate sound of harmonic reson-
ances. Again, while these tend to die away rather
quickly in the concert hall they are picked up beauti-
fully in the recording, an additional microphone
over the piano strings being used to boost them
artificially, producing at times an almost electronic,
un-'piano-like' sound. This reinforces the feeling
that the tremendous energy generated by the open-
ing of the piece does not merely stop during these
'silences' but continues on some sub-audible level,
periodically to burst through to the perceptible
level again.
The increasingly close correlation between Stock-
hausen's compositional techniques and the way in
which we perceive processes in sound is illustrated
best by Piece 9. At the beginning, two sharply
contrasted ideas are stated. The first is a single
unchanging chord repeated over 200 times, abso-
'Music Review (1968), xxix, 130
31
lutely regularly and at a moderately fast speed. This
is immediately followed by a very slowly rising
chromatic scale, each note of a different duration.
During the remainder of the piece these two ideas,
each associated with its own tempo, are alternated
and juxtaposed. The resolution of the conflict
between these two opposing ideas-fast and per-
iodic, slow and aperiodic-is finally brought about
only by the appearance of a completely new kind of
music. The last two pages of the piece take place
Letters to the Editor
ELGAR
With reference to Mr Pirie's review in The Musical
Times of August last (p.728), I wish to confirm that it
is true my Father expressed his wish to be buried at
the junction of the Teme and Severn rivers at a
time when I felt he really was fully conscious for the
first time after some weeks. So it must be under-
stood that I could not ignore his wishes without
great thought. Then Father Gibb S. J. from St
George's, Worcester, was asked to attend, and to
him my Father reaffirmed his faith in the Roman
Catholic Church, so the whole question was, I am
thankful to say, resolved.
I have asked Mr Kennedy to add these facts to the
new edition of his book and I hope that any con-
fusion and doubt on this question will now be
dispelled.
Westbury-on-Trym C. ELGAR BLAKE (MRS)
Corroborative evidence as to Elgar's reception of
the Last Sacraments is recorded in the Sick Calls
register (1934) in the archives of St George's Church,
Worcester. (The late Percy Scholes once called at the
Presbytery to inquire about the matter.) I do not
know if it is still the practice, but a 'month's mind'
Mass of Requiem was for many years offered there
on the 23rd of each month.
It is now proposed to restore the organ young
Edward (and his father before him) played, and a
list of donors-still open-includes some famous
names. Interested readers may care to know that
subscriptions may be sent to 'Trustees, Elgar Organ
Fund,' St George's Church, Sansome Place,
Worcester.
North Harrow H. A. CHAMBERS
I have no intention of challenging the veracity of Mr
Kennedy's account of Elgar's last weeks; but on one
point of the complex psychology of belief in the still
more complex brain of a genius my own memory
and instinct prompted me to doubt any too black
and white dismissal of Elgar's faith. I have since
confirmed the incident that lingered in my memory;
a Roman Catholic family of my acquaintance
pointed out to me at the time an extract from The
Universe of March 2 1934 which runs:
Fr R. H. Gibb S.J., who visited Sir Edward
shortly before he died, says: 'Almost a week ago
in the presence of the doctor (who is not a
Catholic) he said: "I am a Catholic, and a
Roman Catholic..." '.
Mr Valbonesi has the same incident from another
source, so it appears that it was widely reported.
32
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almost entirely in the highest register of the piano
and consist of irregularly spaced groups of fast
periodic notes which, by the action of the player,
gradually become more and more aperiodic.
I have tried to indicate just a few of the infinite
number of ways in which we can listen to these
pieces. The very fact that they are of such inex-
haustible richness should indicate clearly enough
their stature as music.
music examples by permission of Universal Edition (London) Ltd
Moreover, there was a move afoot at the time to
bury Elgar in Westminster Abbey, but it was
decided to bury him in Catholic consecrated ground.
The whole question is an elusive one, since even
the most fervently religious sometimes waver in their
beliefs, and the intensely emotional nature of Elgar,
plus an inconsistency of attitude that must be familiar
to anyone who has studied his letters, renders the
question still more elusive. My own instinct, for
what it is worth, suggests to me a man who would
utter extravagant things under provocation or pain,
but whose musical nature would probably condition
a deep unconscious clinging to belief that would
emerge on occasion into positive affirmation.
Shoreham-by-Sea PETER J. PIRIE
BERLIOZ FORGERIES
A number of hitherto unknown Berlioz letters,
drafts, musical sketches, album leaves, and 'associa-
tion copies' have recently passed into circulation.
Most of the letters offer interesting information
about Berlioz's methods of composition, artistic
intentions, musical opinions, and personal beliefs,
and have thus aroused the curiosity of scholars
working in the period.
It is now clear, however, that many of these 'new'
documents are ingenious forgeries. We therefore
advise collectors, antiquarian dealers, librarians, and
scholars to bear this in mind when anything pur-
porting to be a Berlioz autograph comes their way.
The forger or forgers have taken some trouble to
familiarize themselves with the more accessible
details of the lives of Berlioz and his friends in
Paris.
The New Berlioz Edition will be happy to express
an opinion about the genuineness of any item sub-
mitted to it, at Pembroke College, Cambridge.
HUGH MACDONALD
DAVID CAIRNS
ALAN TYSON
MOZART'S MINIMS
In my interview in the August MT (pp.722-3), I was
discussing the fact that notes in the 18th century
were not intended to be sustained as long as they are
generally today, and cited an aria in Don Giovanni as
an example and also bars 2 and 4 of the overture.
Mr Frost (Nov MT, pp.1019-20) seems not to have
taken the point that I was referring to the general
practice in the 18th century regarding note-lengths.
In my opinion, it would never occur to an 18th-
century musician to sustain a note unless specific-
ally marked tenuto. If Mozart had wanted to obtain