Composer of the Week – Karlheinz Stockhausen

Happy late Birthday (Monday) to German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007). Stockhausen was a very influential, but also very controversial composer of the 20th and 21st centuries. He did a lot of experimentation and work with electronic music. He also wrote a great many articles on composers and composition techniques.

His experiments with sound and electronic music influenced quite a few classical composers, and other not-so-classical musicians. The Beatles’ “Revolution 9″, was inspired by Stockhausen, and his is one of the faces on the album cover for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

He also has an absolutely lovely grave site:

Here’s a few selections of his music:

Kontakte

Gersang der Junglinge (Song of the Youths)