Karlheinz Stockhausen

Germany, 1950–2007

German composer (1928-2007) and a central figure in post-war serialism and electronic music. Working at the WDR studio in Cologne, he produced Gesang der Junglinge, Kontakte and Hymnen, and developed notations for spatial and aleatoric performance.

MusicRoots documents 4 artists who influenced Karlheinz Stockhausen and 21 artists Karlheinz Stockhausen influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Karlheinz Stockhausen?

• John Cage — Cage's Darmstadt lectures and aleatoric methods directly triggered Stockhausen's use of chance in 'Klavierstück XI' and subsequent works.
• Olivier Messiaen — Messiaen was Stockhausen's direct teacher in Paris and shaped his early compositional thinking.
• Pierre Schaeffer — Stockhausen worked at Schaeffer's Paris studio, which led him directly into electronic and concrète experiments.
• Anton Webern — Webern's extreme structural concentration influenced early Stockhausen's serial method.

Which artists did Karlheinz Stockhausen influence?

• Eduard Artemiev — Artemiev's electronic language grew out of the post-war avant-garde — he was directly influenced by Stockhausen's electronic works such as 'Gesang der Jünglinge'.
• Jean-Michel Jarre — Jarre was introduced to the Moog modular synthesizer while working at Stockhausen's Cologne studio — the electronic avant-garde behind his synth-driven sound.
• Robert Miles — The studio as an instrument rather than a means of recording a performance — the same root Jarre and Kraftwerk grew from, reaching a chart record in 1995.
• Björk — Stockhausen was a great source of inspiration — Björk studied his ideas, shared studio time with him and interviewed him about his approach.
• Kraftwerk — Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider studied under Stockhausen at Darmstadt; his tape and electronic methods were their foundation.
• The Beatles — The Beatles' studio experiments ('Revolution 9', tape loops) trace back to Stockhausen; he appears on the 'Sgt. Pepper' cover.
• Brian Eno — Eno took off from Stockhausen's electronic and process-based music.
• Cabaret Voltaire — Cabaret Voltaire's electronic methods and noise aesthetics descend from Stockhausen's avant-garde.
• Andrei Volkonsky — Stockhausen's post-war avant-garde was among the Western currents Volkonsky absorbed through private listening in the Thaw-era USSR.
• Pink Floyd — Rick Wright's 'Stockhausen-flavoured organ solos' drove Floyd's early feedback freak-outs — the electronic avant-garde behind their extended improvisations.
• György Ligeti — After fleeing Hungary in 1956 Ligeti worked in the Cologne electronic studio alongside Stockhausen — the encounter that catalysed his Western avant-garde turn.
• Tangerine Dream — Froese absorbed Stockhausen's electronic school in Berlin — the academic avant-garde behind the Berlin School's cosmic drift.
• Can — Czukay and Schmidt were literal Stockhausen students — Can was founded by his pupils taking the avant-garde into the rhythm section.
• Faust — Faust's tape-collage method descends from the Cologne studio tradition — Stockhausen's cut-and-splice avant-garde turned into rock anarchy.
• Klaus Schulze — The Berlin School's electronic language descends from Stockhausen's studio revolution — Schulze named him among his few acknowledged models.
• Cornelius Cardew — Cardew was Stockhausen's assistant (1958–60), co-realizing Carré — the direct apprenticeship he later famously renounced in 'Stockhausen Serves Imperialism'.
• Throbbing Gristle — TG's tape manipulation and electronics drew on the Stockhausen school — the avant-garde toolkit turned against itself.
• Delia Derbyshire — Derbyshire cited the Cologne school — Gesang der Jünglinge above all — as the art she measured her tape work against.
• Else Marie Pade — Pade attended the Darmstadt courses and absorbed Stockhausen's electronic serialism — the other pole of her tape art.
• Conrad Schnitzler — Schnitzler's raw electronics descend from the Cologne studio tradition — Stockhausen's avant-garde turned into Berlin street noise.
• Conny Plank — Plank was Stockhausen's assistant and recorded him — which is how a studio engineer arrived at krautrock already believing the desk was an instrument.