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Karlheinz Stockhausen

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Jeremy Denk Maps Centuries of Music History on 'c.1300-c.2000'

Jeremy Denk's c.1300-c.2000 comes out Feb. 8 on Nonesuch. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Courtesy of the artist

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Jeremy Denk Maps Centuries of Music History on 'c.1300-c.2000'

January 31, 2019 • Hear the resourceful pianist trace 700 years of Western music, from the delicate medieval counterpoint of Guillaume de Machaut to the minimalism of Philip Glass.

Cellist Karl Huros alights a helicopter for his 2007 performance in Stockhausen's Helicopter Quartet, taken from his opera cycle Light. AFP/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Deceptive Cadence

To The Opera House — And Beyond!

August 27, 2012 • There's music by Karlheinz Stockhausen and a few others, but why isn't science fiction a more popular point of departure for modern composers?

Music News

Composer Stockhausen Dies at 79

December 8, 2007 • Avant-garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen died at his home in western Germany on Wednesday. He was 79. To the casual listener, a representative Stockhausen composition might not seem musical. But his work earned him the admiration of a diverse group of musical luminaries, including Pierre Boulez, Frank Zappa and David Bowie. Even The Beatles gave him a spot on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He's in the back row, the fifth person from the left. As a pioneer in the world of electronic music, Stockhausen is revered for his early recording experiments. In a 1972 demonstration, Stockhausen described how he spent time working with sine wave generators to try to recreate the sounds of nature.

Composer Stockhausen Dies at 79

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Music News

Pioneering Composer Stockhausen Dies at 79

December 7, 2007 • German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen died Wednesday after a short illness. From his outrageous compositions (such as the Quartet for strings and four helicopters) to his many lectures, Stockhausen was one of the most vibrant voices in avant-garde music.

Music Lists

Five Modern Classical Pieces for Pop Listeners

November 21, 2007 • In his new book The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, critic Alex Ross explores the richness of classical music created in turbulent times. Out of 100 years of music, Ross picks five classics for curious listeners.

'Music for 18 Musicians (Section 6)' by Steve Reich

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