First Hour: Himmelfahrt Klang (Stockhausen)

interior of milan cathedral, first , second hours of klang premiered

himmelfahrt (ascension), organ or synthesizer, soprano, , tenor. 2004–05 (36 mins.). work number 81. specified colour deep violet-blue (stockhausen 2008a, cover; stockhausen 2008b, cover).

himmelfahrt premiered @ milan cathedral on 5 may 2005 (version organ), alessandro la ciacera, organ, barbara zanichelli, soprano, paolo borgonovo, tenor, , karlheinz stockhausen, sound projection (stockhausen 2006a, 3). north american premiere (and second performance overall) took place @ schwartz center performing arts @ emory university in atlanta on 11 october 2005, randall harlow, organ, teresa hopkin, soprano, john bigham, tenor, , steve everett, sound projection (gresham 2005). version synthesizer premiered in sülztalhalle, kürten on 9 july 2006, antonio pérez abellán, synthesizer, barbara zanichelli, soprano, hubert mayer, tenor, , karlheinz stockhausen, sound projection (stockhausen 2006b, 14 & 34).

himmelfahrt commissioned, support of milanese bank, priest , organist don luigi garbini, director of laboratory of contemporary music in service of liturgy (lmcsl), performance in milan cathedral on ascension thursday 2005, part of pause festival year (gervasoni 2005a). lmcsl, founded don luigi in 1999 support of then-archbishop of milan, monsignor carlo maria martini, had launched multidisciplinary pause festival in 2004. included stockhausen s famous 1956 electronic composition, gesang der jünglinge. when stockhausen mentioned @ time plan new cycle of compositions, don luigi seized opportunity commission first hour, because stockhausen s approach music seems sacred (gervasoni 2005b).

the work uses 24 different tempos in chromatic time scale, , part organ or synthesizer requires 24 corresponding registrations/timbres—the more complex , heavier timbres slower tempos, more transparent , lighter timbres faster tempos. keyboardist s 2 hands required play in different tempos simultaneously, performing temporal head-stands both hands—actually impossible today—and relationship of tempo intensity of sound-colour composed me in spirit of ascension: unimaginable—unheard—invisible (stockhausen 2006a). composer felt compelling man physical rupture allows him go in form of spirit world (gervasoni 2005a).

the text proclaimed 2 singers written stockhausen himself, , refers freely ascension of christ. vocal parts, however, occur intermittently, , keyboard instrument accounts largest share of music. score describes ascent, climbing stairway high, , divided 24 moments. ascent, however, not constant progression—the climber seems stop behind him or around him (gervasoni 2008c, 67).