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KontraPunkte(Stockhausen)
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KontraPunkte(CounterPoints,orAgainstPoints)isacompositionforteninstrumentsbyKarlheinzStockhausen
whichresolvescontrastsamongsixinstrumentaltimbres,aswellasextremesofnotevaluesanddynamiclevels,
intoahomogeneousendingtexture.Stockhausendescribedit:"CounterPoints:aseriesofthemostconcealedand
alsothemostconspicuoustransformationsandrenewalswithnopredictableend.Thesamethingisneverheard
twice.Yetthereisadistinctfeelingofneverfallingoutofanunmistakableconstructionoftheutmost
homogeneity.Anunderlyingforcethatholdsthingstogetherrelatedproportions:astructure.Notthesame
Gestalteninachanginglight.Butratherthis:variousGestalteninthesamelight,thatpermeateseverything"
(Stockhausen1963,37).

Contents
1 History
2 Analysis
3 Discography
4 References
5 Furtherreading
6 Externallinks

History
Thefirst,untitledversion,writtenin195253,wasasparsetextured,"punctual"compositionscoredforflute,E
flatclarinet,contrabassclarinet,contrabassoon,trumpet,contrabasstuba,pianofourhands,harp,violin,and
doublebass(Assis2011,260).Thisscorewasalmostimmediatelyrejectedbythecomposer,whocreatedanew
versioninthespringof1953forflute,clarinetinA,bassclarinet,bassoon,trumpet,trombone,piano(oneplayer),
harp,violin,andcello.Thisversionhasthedistinctionofbeing"Nr.1"inthecomposer'scatalogofworks,
althoughtheKlavierstckeIIV,designated"Nr.2",wereactuallycomposedinthepreviousyear.

Thehyphenatedtitlesignifiesa"counteraction"againstthepunctualstylecurrentlyinvogueintheearly1950s,an
actionembodiedinthecompositionitselfasaprocessoftransformingdissociated"points"intocohesive"groups"
ofnotes,andthereforefromanessentiallystaticconditiontoanaudiblydynamicone.Thetitlealsoimpliesa
criticismofStockhausen'sownearliercompositionPunkte,aswellasofhisfriendPierreBoulez's1951work
PolyphonieXacriticismforwhichBoulezseemstohaveforgivenStockhausen(Maconie2005,11617).

KontraPunktewasfirstperformedduringtheISCMWorldMusicDaysinCologneon26May1953bymembers
oftheWDRSymphonyOrchestra,conductedbyHermannScherchen.Thisperformance,however,wasonlyof
roughlythefirsttwothirdsofthework,owingtolackofsufficienttimeforthepianisttopreparetheextremely
difficultclosingpart.Laterthatsameyear,ScherchenconductedthefirstcompleteperformanceonaDomaine
musicalconcertinParis(Kurtz1992,58).Onereviewofthe1953(partial)premierereportedthatScherchen
immediatelyrepeatedthepiecebecause,shortlyafterthebeginningofthefirstperformance,thepianisthadgotten
twobarsbehind,despitebeingassistedbythecomposer"whofromtimetotimeplayedanoteobviouslynotwithin
thecapacityoftenfingersbutrequiredbythescore"(Wolf1953,606).

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Somewhatconfusingly,anearlier,orchestralworkbyStockhausenwastitled"Kontrapunkte"(withoutthehyphen:
"Counterpoints").Thiswork,suppressedbythecomposeratthetimeongroundsthatitwasunplayable,was
drasticallyrecomposedin1962andissuedunderthetitlePunkte(Points),bywhichnametheoriginalworkisalso
nowcalled(Kurtz1992,52Blumrder1993,99).

Analysis
"A'punctual'ensemblestyleusingtensoloistsdividedintosixsoundgroups((1)flutebassoon,(2)clarinetbass
clarinet,(3)trumpettrombone,(4)piano,(5)harp,(6)violinvioloncello)istransformedirregularlybutsteadily
intoasoloisticstylearticulatedby'groups',graduallyfocussingonthepianopart"(Stockhausen1964,20).This
versionaddsprogressivelylongerinsertionsofdensernotegroups,ofteninsingleinstruments,whileatthesame
timegraduallyreplacingmoreandmorelongnoteswithgroupsofrapid,shorteronesinatechniquecalled
Ausmultiplikation(Kohl2004).Thisgradualerosionoftheoriginallysparsetexture,reflectedinthehyphenated
title(meaning"AgainstPoints"),complementsthreeparallelprocessesalreadypresentinthefirstversion:(1)the
heterogeneoustimbresofthefullensemblearegraduallyreducedtothe"monochrome"ofthesolopiano(2)
widelyfluctuatingdurationsreducetosimilarvalues(3)widerangingdynamicsreducetoagenerallysoftlevel.
ThisunidirectionalprocesshasbeencomparedontheonehandtothatofMauriceRavel'sBolro(Pousseur1970,
246),andontheothertoHaydn's"Farewell"Symphony(Maconie2005,116).Countlessminorchangeshavebeen
introducedinsubsequentrevisions,thelastofwhich,inJanuary2004,replacedtheAclarinetwiththeBflat
instrument.

Discography
Inchronologicalorderofrecording.

LesConcertsduDomaineMusical:IVeConcertSaison1956.AntonWebern:Symphonieop.21Deux
Lieder,op.8QuatreLieder,op.13.LuigiNono:Incontri.KarlheinzStockhausen:KontraPunkte.Pierre
Boulez:Lemarteausansmaitre.SolistesduDomaineMusicalPierreBoulez,cond.LPrecording,1sound
disc:33rpm,monaural,30cm.Series:Prsencedelamusiquecontemporaine:Serieartistique.VegaC30
A66.[Paris]:Vega,1956.ReissuedonCD1of:PierreBoulez:LeDomaineMusical,19561967.Vol.1.CD
recording,5sounddiscs:digital,mono,stereo,12cm.Accord4769209(set):4768858,4768859,
4768860,4768861,4769210.[France]:AccordUniversalMusicFrance,2006.
TheNewMusic.KarlheinzStockhausen:KontraPunkteKrzysztofPenderecki:ThrenodytotheVictimsof
HiroshimaEarleBrown:AvailableFormsIHenriPousseur:Rimespourdiffrentessourcessonores.
FredericRzewski,pianoMembersoftheRAIRomeOrchestraBrunoMaderna,cond.LPrecording,
1sounddisc:analog,33rpm,stereo,30cm.RCAVictrolaVICS1239.NewYork,N.Y.:RCAVictrola,
1967.ReissuedasMusicaNovavol.1.LPrecording.RCA940044.[Paris]:RCAFrance,1969.Alsoissued
asdisc2of3LPset:LaMusicaNuova.LPrecording,3sounddiscs:analog,33rpm,stereo,30cm.RCA
ItalianaSLD61005[Italy]:RCAItaliana,[1960s].ReissuedonCD:1sounddisc,stereo,12cm.Sony
49996(88765499962).NewYork:SonyMusicEntertainment,2013.
Stockhausen:Kreuzspiel,KontraPunkteZeitmae,andAdieu.LondonSinfonietta(SebastianBell,flute
AntonyPay,clarinetRogerFallows,bassclarinetWilliamWaterhouse,bassoonJohnMiller,trumpet
DavidPurser,tromboneJohnConstable,pianoElizabethFletcher,harpMarciaCrayford,violin
ChristophervanKampen,cello)KarlheinzStockhausen,cond.(KontraPunkterecordedintheCTSStudio,
Wembley(London),8July1973)LPrecording,1sounddisc:33rpm,monaural,30cm.DGGLP
2530443.[Hamburg]:DeutscheGrammophon,1974.ReissuedtogetherwithZeitmaeandAdieufromthis
sameLP,withtheadditionofStop(1965)fromDGGLP2530442,onStockhausenCompleteEditionCD4.
Krten:StockhausenVerlag,2002.
KarlheinzStockhausen:KontraPunkte,Refrain,Zeitmae,Schlagtrio.Theensemblerecherche(Martin
Fahlenbock,fluteShizuyoOka,clarinetMarioKopf,bassoonUweMckel,bassclarinetMarkus
Schwind,trumpetAndrewDigby,tromboneJeanPierreCollot,pianoBeateAnton,harpMelisa

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Mellinger,violinsakerberg,cellointheotherworks:JaimeGonzlez,oboeFlorianHasel,coranglais
KlausSteffesHollnder,celestaChristianDiersteinandMarikoNishioka,percussion),RupertHuber,cond.
CDrecording,1sounddisc:digital,stereo,12cm.WergoWER67172.Mainz:Wergo,adivisionofSchott
Music&MediaGmbH,2009.DiscreissuedaspartofMusicOfOurTime:50Years:19622012.5CDset.
Wergo6946.Wergo,adivisionofSchottMusic&MediaGmbH,2012.

References
Assis,GustavoOliveiraAlfaix.2011.Embuscadosom:AmsicadeKarlheinzStockhausennosanos1950.
SoPaulo:EditoraUNESP.ISBN9788539302079.
Blumrder,Christophvon.1993.DieGrundlegungderMusikKarlheinzStockhausens.BeiheftezumArchiv
frMusikwissenschaft32,ed.HansHeinrichEggebrecht.Stuttgart:FranzSteinerVerlag.
Kohl,Jerome.2004."'OneSuperordinatePrinciple':TheOriginsofStockhausensSerialism."Paper
presented13November2004attheNationalConferenceoftheSocietyforMusicTheory,Seattle,WA.
Kurtz,Michael.1992.Stockhausen:ABiography.TranslatedbyRichardToop.London:FaberandFaber.
Maconie,Robin.2005.OtherPlanets:TheMusicOfKarlheinzStockhausen.Lanham,Maryland,Toronto,
andOxford:TheScarecrowPress,Inc.ISBN0810853566.
Mosch,Ulrich.1997.WahrnehmungsweisenseriellerMusik.Musiktheorie12:6170.
Pousseur,Henri.1970.FragmentsthoriquesI:Surlamusiqueexprimentale.tudesdesociologiedela
musique.Brussels:EditionsdelInstitutdeSociologieUniversitLibredeBruxelles.
Schnebel,Dieter.1972.KontraPunkteoderMorphologiedermusikalischenZeit.InDenkbareMusik:
Schriften19521972,ed.HansRudolfZeller,21330.Cologne:VerlagM.DuMontSchauberg.
Stockhausen,Karlheinz.1963."Arbeitsbericht1952/53:Orientierung".InhisTextezurelektronischenund
instrumentalenMusik1,editedbyDieterSchnebel,3238.DuMontDokumente.Cologne:VerlagM.
DuMontSchauberg.
Stockhausen,Karlheinz.1964."Nr.1KontraPunktefr10Instrumente(1953)".InhisTextezurMusik2,
editedbyDieterSchnebel,2021.Cologne:VerlagM.DuMontSchauberg.
Wolf,RobertErich.1953."CurrentChronicle:Germany".MusicalQuarterly39,no.4(October):604609.

Furtherreading
Frisius,Rudolf.2008.KarlheinzStockhausenII:DieWerke19501977GesprchmitKarlheinz
Stockhausen,"Esgehtaufwrts".Mainz,London,Berlin,Madrid,NewYork,Paris,Prague,Tokyo,Toronto:
SchottMusikInternational.ISBN9783795702496.
Goldberg,Albert.1956."'KontrapunkteNo.1'FailstoImpress".LosAngelesTimes(21February):29.
Goldberg,Albert.1958."TheSoundingBoard:StockhausenWorksPerformedatUCLA".LosAngeles
Times(3December):7C.
Howland,PatriciaL.2010."FormalProcessesinPostTonalMusic:AStudyofSelectedWorksbyBabbitt,
Stockhausen,andCarter".PhDdiss.NewYork:CityUniversityofNewYork.
Schonberg,HaroldC.1956."StockholmFeteLacksNovelties:EvenMostExtremeWorksonModernMusic
ProgramAreShortonShockValue".NewYorkTimes(6June):37.

Externallinks
VideoclipsfromKontraPunkterehearsalsandperformance(http://www.stockhausen.org/KONTRAPUNK
TE_clip.mov),StockhausenconductsEnsembleModern,Frankfurt,August1992.
Stockhausen:SoundsinSpace:OP.01,KONTRAPUNKTE(AnalysisandListeningGuide)(http://stockhau
senspace.blogspot.com/2014/08/opus1kontrapunkte.html)

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