Stockhausen : Klavierstücke - Piano Pieces I-XI

Album review

Karlheinz Stockhausen is best remembered for his major compositions, which included the opera cycle LICHT, the massive Gruppen for three orchestras, and the groundbreaking electronic work, Gesang der Jünglinge, but his ideas were often worked out first as sketches that later took the form of piano pieces or Klavierstücke. Stockhausen composed a total of 11 such pieces for piano, and they are presented on Sabine Liebner's 2018 release on Wergo, including both versions of Klavierstuck XI. To grasp Stockhausen's elaborate procedures and frequently misunderstood intentions, which grew out of an obsession with abstraction and an aversion to conventional classical practices, some acquaintance with his numerical operations and concerns with pitch content, tone color, durations, dynamics, and other serial parameters may be helpful. Yet the various techniques that Stockhausen employed in the 1950s and early '60s are nearly impossible to comprehend aurally, and his piano music is often difficult to absorb because of its severe pointillism, harsh dissonances, and abrupt gestures. Liebner is an authority on Stockhausen, and her passionate advocacy of his music comes across in this survey, which is imposing in its length and challenging in its complexity. Adventurous listeners may attempt to digest the Klavierstücke in one sitting, though other listeners should sample a few tracks before taking the plunge.

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