Entry 10: Karlheiz Stockhausen – Gesang der Juenglinge

This piece is strangely disorienting and very intense at times. Childerens’ voice are very powerful and I believe Stockhausen’s decision to use them is an integral part of the work. The skill in his manipulation and creation of textures is amazingly skillful. Stockhausen overlapping of multiple voice parts is very effective in creating a sense of chaos similar to crowed room with many conversations going on. There seem to be two main categories of sound types in this piece: decaying and non-decaying. In a general sense these decaying and non-decaying sounds could be defined as vocal sounds and non-vocal respectively, but this is not a strict definition. My main interest regarding these sounds is how Stockhausen establishes this contrast and effectively uses the possibilites of this to shape sections in the piece. The childerens’ voices seem to take center stage in the piece, but the non-vocal sound elements are what really drive the piece foward and bring about the most intense moments in the piece. To put it another way, I feel the vocal sounds represent more static ideas in comparison to the non-vocal sounds which are not only more dynamic in their nature, but bring about the major transitions and high points in the piece. The contrast of these two major sound types creates a very surreal and unique atmosphere to the work. I really enjoyed Stockhausen’s manipulations that created watery sound ideas and textures, and I’m extremely impressed by the fact the he did this in the mid fifties as well, because his manipulation in this area easily rival those of composers with three or four more decades of technology at their disposal. It amazes me that this piece maintains a flow and strong sense of direction in such a surreal atmosphere and sound world. Much of this flow is a result of Stockhausen’s great attention to dynamic detail and his careful placement of abrupt changes in dynamic and texture. Wonderful piece.