Tierkreis

Tierkreis (1974) is a unique composition in Stockhausen's universe because, on the one hand, it takes a decisive step toward a simplicity previously unknown in his work, while on the other, it is linked to the most visionary and radical Stockhausen, the one who was said to be in direct contact with the cosmos, even going so far as to firmly assert his own alien existence.

It was originally a cycle of 12 melodies, with a sparse harmonic development, linked to the signs of the zodiac—the title translates, in fact, as Zodiac— They were intended to be embodied in the form of music boxes included in a theatrical piece called Musik im Bauch, and were thus released at the time on DGG LP.

Their role, however, was not destined to end there: they quickly acquired the dignity of an independent work, to be performed with any melodic instrument, keyboard, or combination of the two. The score prescribes that the performance begin from the current zodiac sign and continue in the order of the zodiac until returning to the starting sign, with the constraint that each melody must be performed at least three to four times with variations and improvisations.

As a result, many versions were created, with formations that differed from the prescribed one, some on Stockhausen's initiative, but others developed by various groups of performers who often took liberties that went beyond the composer's instructions.

In this way, Tierkreis took on the character of a semi-open work, open to both rigorous interpretation and usable as material for further development, to the point that the many versions have very different durations, ranging from 12 to 63 minutes. The work, however, always retains its Stockhausen-esque imprint, also because the individual melodies pervade the composer's subsequent production.

Stockhausen, in fact, employed them in other large-scale works, such as the entire central section of Sirius, a work for soprano, bass, trumpet, bass clarinet, and eight channels of electronic music from 1975–77, in which four stellar messengers arrive from Sirius to bring music and peace to mankind. Similarly, fragments of the Tierkreis melodies are also found in the colossal Licht, a series of works, each dedicated to a day of the week.

It must be said, in fact, that the very structure of the melodies is intimately connected to Stockhausen's musical thought. To begin with, each of them is centered around a different note, because, if 12 is the number of the zodiac signs, 12 is also the number of notes in the octave. Thus, the series begins with A for Leo (Stockhausen's sign), moving on to A sharp/B flat for Virgo, B for Libra, C for Scorpio, and so on.

Furthermore, their metronomic speed is linked to the base note by reversing the latter's frequency into duration, according to the idea of the time/pitch unity expressed by Karlheinz in his famous 1957 essay "Wie die Zeit vergeht" (How Time Flows). In this theoretical work, Stockhausen considers the fact, well known to physics, that since pitch is given by a cyclical repetition of a sound wave, each note can be associated with a temporal duration equal to the inverse of its frequency. Consequently, every cyclical phenomenon can be seen as a note, even if too low to be audible.

Thus Tierkreis becomes a new "Music of the Spheres," reproposing a unity that extends from the universe to the note emitted by a musical instrument, seen as a creative act as a metaphor for the primordial vibration that pervades the cosmos.

Here in 3 versions

for piano, flute, saxophone
Dynamis Ensemble: Birgit Nolte, flutes – Isabella Fabbri, saxophones – Candida Felici, piano

for flute and clarinet
duo 1010: Stephanie Bell, flutes – Liam Hockley, clarinets

for piano and electronics
Massimiliano Viel, piano and electronics

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