Stockhausen and Cowell

Stockhausen (1928 - 2007)

This guy wrote alot of Klavierstuck. A very interesting character - Stockhausen worked pretty much all day, very diligently. He, unlike Beethoven, or many composers before him, actually told you the meaning behind his music, so there was no confusion. The one I am listening to is Kalivierstuck IX.

Stockhausen was famous for being one of the first composers to use aleatoric music, or chance music. Much of his music depends on the rolling of dice or random chance, which both arguably music, and non music...

The piece begins with the same chord, repeated over and over, several times, at different dynamics. It sounds like it could be serial, but I'm not certain. Not the best piece in the whole world, but some small interesting things hidden in there.


Cowell (1897 - 1965)

Not too much to say. Cowell was one of the first to explore different piano echniques in the 21st century, which would later be taken over by Cage and Crumb. Cowell indicated the use of entire palms and forearms to play certain chords and clusters, which he was fond of using. He was also one of the first to go inside the piano and mess with strings.

The Banshee is a piece played entirely on the inside of the piano. The performer is required (have someone) hold the pedal down, and strum, rub, and pluck strings inside the piano. It makes for a pretty interesting effect. This piece is actually pretty scary. Some of the sounds produced by the strings on the inside of the piano can sounds like screams and scary sounds. Its a pretty effective piece. Most pieces like this are rather simple once the coereography is sorted out.

Aeolian Harp is another piece which requires the performer to play inside the piano. In this case, the performer silently holds down certain keys, (chords) while struming the inside. once the giberish noise is settled, all that remains is the left over sound of the chords from the keys that are held down. It sounds pretty cool. Less effective than the Banshee.