Dilettante Music

Kontakte (1959 - 60) marks the end of Stockhausen's first compositional period, which was most notable for the composer's experiments with numerical serialism. Despite the given date of Kontakte's composition, Stockhausen actually began work on it in 1958, but was delayed in part by having to share the electronic music studio in Cologne with fellow composers György Ligeti and Mauricio Kagel, both of whom were similarly working on large-scale pieces. Like so many of Stockhausen's works, Kontakte exists in more than one version. There are, in fact, two: the first, No. 12 in the composer's catalogue, is a purely electronic composition on tape; the second, No. 12 1/2, is for electronic sounds, piano, and percussion. This second version is particularly important, as it is Stockhausen's first work to combine electronics and live performers.

In the late 1950s, Stockhausen became increasingly influenced by the aleatoric music of American composers like Morton Feldman and John Cage, as well as by American jazz. These influences are evident in Kontakte, though it is a work that clearly belongs to the European avant-garde tradition. It also presages developments in Stockhausen's own style, including elements -- such the addition of instrumentalists to an existing tape composition -- central to his later works.

The title refers to the moments of "contact" between the electronic sounds on the tape and the live performers. The tape consists of percussion sounds altered by different electronic means, including a ring modulator, a reverberator, and an impulse generator. The instrumental parts intertwine with the taped sounds, creating a wildly diverse array of textures and timbres over the course of six sections, or "moments." The moments are determined by events on tape, but the instrumentalists also participate in the transition from one moment to the next by changing character. Each moment contains six subdivisions of intensity, from "just noticable" to "violent," that refer to variations in acoustical phenomena including volume, speed, and register. The pianist and percussionists must respond and interact carefully with the tape, ensuring a proper balance of dynamics and intensity.

While Kontakte has a quasi-improvisational feel, the instrumental parts are written out in full. In his original conception of Kontakte, Stockhausen had envisaged a piece in which performers would respond freely to the events on tape; however, initial rehearsals were, in the composer's own words, "a real disaster. The musicians did not know what to do." Ultimately, Stockhausen expressed displeasure with Kontakte, and, as in the cases of so many of his other compositions, regards it as unfinished. ~ All Music Guide