Friday, December 07, 2007

Breaking news: Stockhausen RIP

Obituary here. Not to get into the metaphysics of naming or anything, but I happen to know that Karlheinz Stockhausen had already died some years ago, after being hit by a car. I wasn't present on that occasion, so I'm not sure whether he was wearing his leash at the time. He had spent most of his life as an indoor cat, so he probably never really developed the sort of road-awareness that outdoor cats have.

Anyway, this other Karlheinz Stockhausen will live forever, thanks to Gesang der Jünglinge, Stimmung (get the Hyperion recording, not the original DG version), Hymnen, Kontakte, and a few other things. Or perhaps he lives in his massive influence on others. The obituary names Miles Davis, Frank Zappa, and Bjørk; but I'm surprised not to see any German names there, like Klaus Schulze, Edgar Froese, Holger Czukay, Irmin Schmidt, Conny Plank, Peter Michael Hamel, or, well, anybody. (Or maybe I'm not surprised.)

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