Karlheinz Stockhausen – Stockhausen Edition 1: Chöre für Doris (1991)

This album, which brings to you some of the earlier works by Stockhausen, will serve as a reminder the German rebel could compose in a more traditional fashion if he chose to. It’s not that young Karlheinz decided to turn his his mind to producing chaotic cacophonies (as some may well perceive of his works) because he was the worst student in composition class. Or wasn’t able to spell the names Bach and Beethoven right. As an analogy, I’d like to refer to the famous Dutch Cobra painter Karel Appel: many may be inclined to think he made children’s paintings because he couldn’t draw. Forget it, Appel could draw like Rembrandt. He just didn’t want to.

Alright, tradition for Stockhausen udually didn’t go further down in history than the early 20th century modernists; you’ll in vain search for anything resembling a Haydn sonata, for example…but Stravinsky and Schönberg, yes! The Chöre für Doris and the Choral are enough proof of that. You might even say these vocal pieces have a something of the medieval Meistersinger in them. So, a wider sense of tradition after all? Imagine Stockhausen waving with a hurdy gurdy…
Next, reminiscences of Prokofiev are all over this album; the Russian’s happy & humorous rhythms must have infected Stockhausen.
Stockhausen, humorous?? Yes, certainly. Even his most outrageous experiments reveal his sense of humour.

Choruses for Doris (1950)
01. The Nightingale [0:03:01.00]
02. 2. A Poor Young Shepherd [0:03:14.40]
03. 3. Agnus Dei [0:03:35.35]

Chorale (1950)
04. 1st stanza [0:02:07.00]
05. 2nd stanza [0:02:30.00]

Three Songs (1950)
06. The Rebel [0:03:50.00]
07. 2. Free [0:09:06.00]
08. 3. The String Man [0:07:04.00]

Sonatine (1951)
09. I. [0:02:12.52]
10. II. [0:03:51.68]
11. III. [0:04:55.30]

Cross-Play (1951)
12. I. [0:03:08.40]
13. II. [0:03:35.22]
14. III. [0:04:46.33]

Performers
The Choir of the North German Radio
The Symphony Orchestra of the Southwest German Radio
For Cross-Play: Musicians of the London Sinfonietta
Conductor on all tracks: Karlheinz Stockhausen