Momente

Momente (Moments) is a work by the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, written between 1962 and 1969, scored for solo soprano, four mixed choirs, and thirteen instrumentalists (four trumpets, four trombones, three percussionists, and two electric keyboards). It is described by the composer as "practically an opera of Mother Earth surrounded by her chicks" (Stockhausen 1989, 147).

Form

Momente exemplifies what Stockhausen calls moment form, in which the listener's attention is on the "now", on the "eternity that does not begin at the end of time but is attainable in every moment" (Stockhausen 1963a, 199). At the same time, it constitutes a "polyvalent form", in that its 30 sections (also called "moments") can be arranged in many different sequences.

There are three main groups of moments, designated by letters: eight M, seven K, and eleven D moments. The letters stand for Melodie (melody), Klang (sound, or chord), and Dauer (duration), and also have an autobiographical significance, with K for "Karlheinz" and the other two letters for Stockhausen's first and second wives, "Doris" and "Mary" (Smalley 1974, 295).

The M group emphasizes

• monophony/heterophony
• "random" rhythms
• mixed pitches and noises
• scoring mainly for the brass and solo soprano
• an average medium dynamic level

The K moments concentrate on

• vertical, homophonic textures
• periodic rhythms
• a predominance of noises
• a scoring mainly for the men's voices and percussion
• a generally loud dynamic

The D moments have

• a "diagonal", or polyphonic character
• syncopated rhythms
• pitches but little noise
• scoring primarily for the electric organs and women's voices
• an average soft dynamic.

The K group always stands at the centre, with either the D moments preceding and the M moments following (as in the 1972 and 1998 performing versions), or the reverse. Each moment group includes one "pure" type, designated with the simple letter, and a number of "mixed" types containing "influences" from the other types, designated with multiple letters. These occur on four hierarchical levels, the first being the level of the three pure moments. In the second level, only a slight degree of influence from one other type occurs (about 30%), and is indicated with lowercase, bracketed letters, e.g., M(k) and M(d) in the M group (Stockhausen 1989, 67). On the third level, there is a nearly equal balance between two types, and the letters are capitals, such as MK and MD in the M group; each of these is partnered by a neighbouring moment that adds a slighter influence from the third type, e.g., MK(d) and MD(k). The fourth level is found only in the D group, and includes DKM, the only moment in which all three types are balanced, as well as three partially "self-reflexive" moments, D(d–m), DK(d), and DK(k). The M group also adds one entirely self-reflective moment, but on the third level: moment M(m). A basic duration is assigned to each moment according to its level. The pure M, K, and D moments are each to last two minutes; the second-level moments each last one minute; the third- and fourth-level ones thirty and fifteen seconds, respectively (Rigoni 1998, 194).

However, in many cases these basic durations are extended in actual performance, in part because of inserted material, and in part because many of the moments can or must be repeated. Sometimes the repetition of a moment involves a considerable change of speed. For example, DK(d) has a basic duration of fifteen seconds, but upon repetition is performed four times slower. Consequently, its actual duration is five times longer, at a minute and a quarter (Smalley 1974, 289).

With the exception of M(m), each moment at a lower hierarchical level is attached to a pair of moments on the next higher level, and the members of that higher pair may be exchanged, in order to prepare a version for a particular performance (Bosseur 1967, 121). In addition to this mobile condition of the moments, the internal elements ("partial moments") of six of the eight M moments (M(k), M(d), MD, MK, MD(k), and the central M moment itself) are also rearrangeable (Kohl 1999, 233–34).

To these three main groupings of moments are added four I ("informal", or "indeterminate") moments, which are used to frame and separate the three main sections:

I(d) always stands between the M and K groups, I(k) always between the K and D groups. … The I(m) moment is independent and can stand at the beginning, or before or after I(k); according to its position it will be read either forwards or backwards. Moment I always stands at the end. (Stockhausen 1971, unpaginated introduction)

The I moments are the longest moments in the work, and serve to neutralize the others (Stockhausen 1989, 68). As originally planned, I (the final, "praying" moment) was to last eight minutes, and I(k), I(d), and I(m) four minutes each. This would have meant their combined duration of twenty minutes would have been equal to that of the other twenty-six moments combined. However, in the compositional working-out, the durations of I and I(m) were increased to about ten and five minutes, respectively, and I(k) was even more drastically expanded, to more than twenty minutes—as long as all the other I moments put together (Smalley 1974, 289).

Inserts

Once the order of the moments has been determined, "inserts" are made from some moments into the immediately preceding or following moment, according to a complex set of rules. These inserts may take on some of the characteristics of the host moment. In the D group, for example, most of the inserts must be transposed to match the central tone of the host moment.

Texts

Stockhausen draws on a variety of sources for the texts of Momente (Bosseur 1967, 121; Smalley 1974, 25):

• Primarily in the D moments, the Song of Songs, in the translation by Martin Luther. Many of the M Moments use shorter extracts from this source.
• Extracts from a letter from Mary Bauermeister, mainly in moment I(k), where they are used with passages from the Song of Songs.
• Brief quotations from The Sexual Life of Savages by Bronislaw Malinowski, an anthropological report of the Trobriand Islands in British New Guinea, found, for example, in moment M(d).
• A quotation from William Blake: "He who kisses the joy as it flies/Lives in Eternity's sunrise", found in moment M(d) and, in the 1972 and 1998 versions as an insert from M(d) in M.
• Names from fairy tales, e.g., Rapuntzel (MK); invented names, e.g., Kama, Maka, Dodi; cries and exclamations heard from audiences at performances of Stockhausen's earlier works, e.g., "bravo", "pfui", "nein, das ist unmöglich", "da capo", "furchtlos weiter", "sortez", "bald?". "so?", "schon?", "jetzt?", "ja!", "immer", "wann?", "warum?", "wie?", "wo?", "sure?", "wozu?".
• Invented onomatopoeic words, and phonetic texts written by Stockhausen himself.

Timbres

Momente seeks to employ the greatest possible number of vocal phenomena—not just conventional singing but also the communication functions of spoken and whispered language, crying, and laughter, producing an "infinitely rich mode of expression . . . [that] profoundly touches our emotive sensibility" (Bosseur 1967, 124). Isolated syllables and even single phonemes or linguistic segments, including vowels, continuant consonants, and tongue clicks are used "in a scale extending from unvoiced exhaling via aspiration, whispering, giggling, murmuring, speaking, shouting, screaming and laughing, to singing" in order to "permit the composition of timbral transitions and relations between spoken and instrumental sounds" (Stockhausen 1964b, 132).

In addition to singing, the choir members play small "auxiliary" instruments, clap their hands, snap their fingers, stamp and shuffle their feet, and slap their knees. Stockhausen reported that the WDR choir, which sang for the première, initially objected to these practices (Stockhausen 1964a) and, "because such means of sound and noise production can have a comic effect, . . . one newspaper report talked about a 'cabaret performance' and ridiculed the whole thing" (Stockhausen 1964b, 132).

Reception

Programme for the world premiere of Momente (first version)

Momente caused a sensation at the first (partial) performance in Cologne on 21 May 1962, in part because the moment used to begin that version, the so-called "clapping moment" I(m), begins with applause in the choirs. This was seen by some as a mockery of the audience, but by others as a means of intensifying the connection between audience and performers (Kurtz 1992, 119; Cott 1973, 143). Besides the opening I(m) moment, this first version consisted of just two of the M and all of the K moments, separated by the I(d) "organ moment". This version was also heard in the first American performance, at Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, New York, on 1 March 1964 (Parmenter 1964). At the Donaueschingen Festival in October 1965, an expanded version was given, which added the remaining M moments and the I(i) "praying" moment, which is meant to conclude all versions. A recording of this version was released on the Wergo and Nonesuch labels. Completion of the D moments was only accomplished in 1969, and the first complete performance took place in Bonn on 8 December 1972, in a version beginning with the newly composed, 25-minute-long I(k) moment, which is very different from the previously composed moments and which some critics at the time felt was out of proportion to and out of character with the rest (Griffiths 1973; Maconie 1976, 175). Though it seemed to some that this "long and exhilaratingly dramatic section … could never be anything but an opening" (Griffiths 1981, 147), in the version prepared under the composer's direction in 1998, I(k) opens the second part, after the intermission (Peters 1999, 105).

Discography

• Stockhausen, K[arlheinz]. Momente, für Sopran. 4 Chorgruppen und 13 Instrumentalisten, Version 1965. Martina Arroyo, soprano; Aloys Kontarsky, Hammond organ; Aloys Kontarsky, Lowrey organ; chorus and members of the orchestra of Radio Cologne (WDR); Herbert Schernus, choir master; Karlheinz Stockhausen, cond. Studio-Reihe neuer Musik. Wergo WER 60024 (LP). Mainz: Wergo Schallplatten GmbH, [n.d.]. Reissued Nonesuch H-1157 (mono LP), H-71157 (stereo LP). New York & London: Nonesuch Records, [n.d.].
• Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Momente, "Europa Version 1972". Gloria Davy, soprano; WDR Chorus (Herbert Schernus and Karlheinz Stockhausen, choir rehearsals, assisted by Peter Eötvös and Godfried Ritter); Instrumentalists of the Ensemble Musique Vivante (Diego Masson, dir.); Roger Smalley, Hammond organ; Harald Bojé, Lowrey organ; Karlheinz Stockhausen, cond. With excerpt from the 1965 version (I (m), M, and I moments), from Wergo 60024. Deutsche Gramophon DG 2709055 (3-LP set). [N.p.]: Polydor International, 1976. Reissued, Stockhausen Complete Edition 7 (2 CDs with 4-colour text booklet and separate booklet with complete sung texts). Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 1992.
• Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Momente [1998 version]. Angela Tunstall, soprano; WDR Rundfunkchor Köln (choir soloists: Maria Ungers, Hein Heidbüchel, Josef Otten, Kai Freundorfer, Ursula Kunz); MusikFabrik; Antonio Pérez Abellán and Massimiliano Viel, synthesizers; Rupert Huber, cond.; Karlheinz Stockhausen, sound projection. Stockhausen Complete Edition 80 (2 CDs). Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 2006.
• Stockhausen, Karlheinz. Momente 1963/1972: Lesung und 2 Interviews. Includes moment I(k) from the DGG recording with Gloria Davey. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 2008. Text-CD 19.

Filmography

• [Lawrence, Robert (prod.)]. 1964. Karlheinz Stockhausen: Momente. Martina Arroyo, soprano; Crane Collegiate Singers of SUNY Potsdam (Brock McElheran, chorus master); members of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra; Karlheinz Stockhausen, cond. Recorded in Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, New York, on 1 March 1964. Performance preceded by a discussion between Karlheinz Stockhausen, an anonymous interviewer, and the Buffalo Philharmonic’s music director, Lukas Foss. Produced by NET in co-operation with WGBH (Boston), WNED (Buffalo), and Robert Lawrence Productions (Toronto).
• Lohner, Henning. 1988. Stockhausen—Lichtwerke: Musik von heute, Klang von morgen. [N.p.]: onVision Film & Musik Produktionen GmbH, 1988.
• Maconie, Robin. 1980. Omnibus: "Tuning in with Stockhausen and Singcircle". London: British Broadcasting Corporation. (BBC1 Colour).
• Patris, S. Gérard (dir.), and Luc Ferrari (prod.). 1965. Karlheinz Stockhausen: Momente, Version 1965, Cologne. Martina Arroyo, soprano solo; orchestre et chœurs: West Deutcher [sic] Rundfunk; chef des chœurs: Herbert Schernus; orgues: Aloïs [sic] et Alfons Kontarsky. [Karlheinz Stockhausen, cond.]. Les Grandes Répétitions. [Paris]: Pierre Schaeffer et le Groupe de Recherche Musicale du Service de la Recherche de l’ORTF. INA/WDR [distrib.] 4456-1.
• Slotover, Robert (prod.). 1974. Karlheinz Stockhausen, Moment-Forming and Integration: "Momente" for Solo Soprano, Chorus and Thirteen Instrumentalists. Filmed at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, 13 February 1972. London: Allied Artists.

References

• Bosseur, Jean-Yves. 1967. "Chronique musicale: aspect de l’innovation musicale au XXe siècle: “Momente” de Stockhausen." La pensée, no.134:118–24.
• Cott, Jonathan. 1973. Stockhausen: Conversations with the Composer. New York: Simon and Schuster.
• Frisius, Rudolf. 2008. Karlheinz Stockhausen II: Die Werke 1950–1977; Gespräch mit Karlheinz Stockhausen, "Es geht aufwärts". Mainz, London, Berlin, Madrid, New York, Paris, Prague, Tokyo, Toronto: Schott Musik International. ISBN 9783795702496
• Griffiths, Paul. 1973. "New Music: Stockhausen". Musical Times 114, no. 1561 (March): 283.
• Griffiths, Paul. 1981. Modern Music: The Avant Garde since 1945. New York: George Braziller. ISBN 0-8076-1018-6
• Katzenberger, Günter. 1979. "Zu Karlheinz Stockhausens Momente, Version 1965: analytische Informationen und didaktische Ansatzmöglichkeiten." Musik und Bildung 11:617–24.
• Kohl, Jerome. 1999. "Four Recent Books on Stockhausen". Perspectives of New Music 37, no. 1 (Winter): 213–45.
• Kurtz, Michael. 1992. Stockhausen: A Biography. Translated by Richard Toop. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0571143237
• McElheran, Brock. 1965. “Preparing Stockhausen’s Momente.” Perspectives of New Music 4, no. 1 (Autumn): 33-38.
• Maconie, Robin. 1976. The Works of Karlheinz Stockhausen. London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press.
• Parmenter, Ross. 1964. "World of Music: Delegates to Be Well Primed for Shock". New York Times (1 March): X13.
• Peters, Günter. 1999. "'… How Creation Is Composed': Spirituality in the Music of Karlheinz Stockhausen". Perspectives of New Music 37, no. 1 (Winter): 97–131.
• Rigoni, Michel. 1998. Stockhausen: ... un vaisseau lancé vers le ciel, 2nd edition, revised, corrected, and enlarged. Lillebonne: Millénaire III Editions. ISBN 2911906020
• Smalley, Roger. 1974. “Momente: Material for the Listener and Composer” (Parts 1 and 2). The Musical Times 115, no. 1571 (January): 23-28 and no. 1574 (April): 289-95.
• Stockhausen, Karlheinz. 1963a. "Momentform: Neue Beziehungen zwischen Aufführungsdauer, Werkdauer und Moment." In Texte zur Musik, vol. 1, 189–210. Cologne: DuMont Schauberg.
• Stockhausen, Karlheinz. 1963b. "Erfindung und Entdeckung." In Texte zur Musik, vol. 1, 222–58. Cologne: DuMont Schauberg.
• Stockhausen, Karlheinz. 1964a. Conversation with Lukas Foss and an anonymous interviewer, introducing NET television broadcast broadcast of Momente, Recorded in Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY, on 1 March 1964. Produced by NET in co-operation with WGBH (Boston), WNED (Buffalo), and Robert Lawrence Productions (Toronto).
• Stockhausen, Karlheinz. 1964b. "Nr. 13: Momente für Sopran, 4 Chorgruppen und 13 Instrumentalisten (1961/62)." In Texte zur Musik, vol. 2, 130–34.
• Stockhausen, Karlheinz. 1971. Ein Schlüssel für "Momente": 14 erste und 13 zweite Skizzen, Siculiana, Januar 1962. Kassel: Boczkowski. Reprinted, Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 1981.
• Stockhausen, Karlheinz. 1989. Stockhausen on Music: Lectures and Interviews, edited by Robin Maconie. London and New York: Marion Boyars. ISBN 0-7145-2887-0 (cloth) ISBN 0-7145-2918-4 (pbk)
• Stockhausen, Karlheinz. 2009. Kompositorische Grundlagen Neuer Musik: Sechs Seminare für die Darmstädter Ferienkurse 1970, edited by Imke Misch. Kürten: Stockhausen-Stiftung für Musik. ISBN 978-3-00-027313-1
• Weid, Jean-Noël von der. 1985. "L’apocalypse de Stockhausen." Silences 1:169–77.