“Kontra-punkte” by Karlheinz Stockhausen: on the Path towards Generalization of the Serial Concept
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Abstract
The center of attention for this article is the landmark composition in the musical output of Karlheinz Stockhausen
– namely, “Kontra-punkte” for 10 instruments (1953). Pertaining to the composer’s early, serial period, it is usually
classed among the master’s pointillistic compositions. The author of the article proposes looking at the present
opus as a sort of artistic manifestation pronouncing the transition towards the post-serial type of musical thinking.
“Kontra-punkte” was composed by Stockhausen after Klavierstücke I-IV, in which a new type of group composition
was manifested. The title of the piece, carrying a polyvalent meaning, may be interpreted as a direction in music
running contrary to the pointillistic style. The individual dramaturgical and compositional features of the piece
are disclosed within the article. The idea of dissipation of the diverse and the separate into the whole entity lies at
the basis of “Kontra-punte.” It is actualized at different levels of the composition): the timbral (the convergence
of the heterogeneous sounds to the monochrome palette by means of the gradual elimination of the instruments),
dynamic, rhythmical, tempo-related (smoothing out respectively the contrasts of dynamics, tempi and rhythm)
and textural (the transition from the “point-wise” type of writing to the “group-related”). Arriving at conclusions
from his experiences in pointillistic composition, which lead to a state of entropy of the structural connections,
Stockhausen discovers the idea of generalization of the serial concept, creating a qualitatively new multivariate
structure, connected by general proportions and stipulating a new type of perception.
Keywords: Stockhausen, “Kontra-punkte,” series, serialism, pointillism, technique of groups.
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