Reviews:

https://www.artsjournal.com/condemned/2018/04/rehabilitating-stockhausen-with-a-klang-does-less-mystique-enhance-his-stature/

http://theculturalcritic.com/stockhausens-klang-over-two-full-days/

https://echoes.org/2018/04/13/echoes-podcast-mantra-stockhausens-klang/

https://whyy.org/segments/composers-14-hour-final-work-set-for-philadelphia-premiere/

Karlheinz Stockhausen’s final epic, KLANG: The 24 Hours of the Day, will be presented in full by Analog Arts and Elizabeth Huston. Intended to include 24 pieces but left incomplete at the time of Stockhausen’s death, this 21-part work gives space to meditate on time, spirituality, and reality, allowing the audience to reflect on the meaning of mortality. KLANG is the final, epic statement of one of the 20th century’s most important composers. It charts the journey of the soul from the body into the afterlife, and is a fitting capstone to Stockhausen’s massive career. The music ranges from intimate chamber pieces to virtuosic displays and electronic extravaganzas. This production features performances by Cologne’s MusikFabrik, light paintings by Thomas Dunn, and sound projection by Dolf Kamper. A break room with stimulating conversations, lectures, and a cash bar will be available.

This piece is composed of three sections. Section one deals with the spiritual world and features performances reflecting the ascension of Christ, harps in heaven expressing the joy of Pentecost, and the door to heaven opening into the pieces of section two, which contains the music that is heard in heaven. The seven pieces of the second section, all instrumental trios, are based on the same underlying music, rearranged and re-imagined to create seven beautifully different yet increasingly familiar-sounding works. The final section takes an immediate and surprising turn towards the imagined universe of Urantia. This section begins with the only fully electronic piece, Cosmic Pulses, and then dives into pieces based on the Urantia book, a mysterious text which appeared in the early 20th century with no known author. This book describes unknown universes, each planet of which is represented by an electro-acoustic performance in the second section.

Attendees will be able to hear the work in its entirety on both days of the production over the course of fourteen hours through four unique but cohesive concert experiences.

KLANG Up Close (10am – 1pm): An intimate look at Stockhausen’s music in the FringeArts Studio where the audience can recline on the floor and get as close as they want to the musicians.

Modular KLANG (1pm – 4pm): The audience shapes their own version of KLANG during simultaneous performances in the FringeArts Theater and Studio.

KLANG Immersion (4pm – 7pm): The audience is invited onto the stage of the FringeArts Theater to hear the music in a unique way.

KLANG in Concert (7pm – 12am): An abridged version of the entire KLANG cycle played in sequence.

Scholars will be present to answer questions and foster conversation, musicians and researchers will give lectures, and visitors will be invited to visit stations for further reading and listening.

The full schedule of talks and speakers are:

Saturday, April 7
11:45am – KLANG and Christianity (Esther Morgan-Ellis)
12:15pm – URANTIA, NEBADON, and Beyond: Navigating the Afterlife Adventure of KLANG (Joe Drew)
1:45pm – Stockhausen’s Collaborators (Esther M Morgan-Ellis)
3:45pm – KLANG’s Trios (Thomas Patteson)
4:30pm – Interview with Marco Blaauw about working with Stockhausen (Thomas Patteson)
6:00pm – Stockhausen’s Serialism (Thomas Patteson)
7:00pm – Interview with Axel Porath and Peter Veale about working with Stockhausen (Paul Miller)
7:30pm – KLANG and Urantia (Paul Miller)
9:00pm – Q and A with Lilac 94 about preparing FREUDE
10:35pm – Eros and Agape (Paul Miller)

Sunday, April 8
11:45am – KLANG’s Trios (Thomas Patteson)
1:00pm – Interview with Marco Blaauw about working with Stockhausen (Thomas Patteson)
2:00pm – Stockhausen’s Serialism (Thomas Patteson)
3:45pm – KLANG and Urantia (Paul Miller)
5:25pm – Eros and Agape (Paul Miller)
6:15pm – URANTIA, NEBADON, and Beyond: Navigating the Afterlife Adventure of KLANG (Joe Drew)
7:00pm – Interview with Axel Porath and Peter Veale about working with Stockhausen (Paul Miller)
7:30pm – KLANG and Christianity (Esther M Morgan-Ellis)
9:00pm – Q and A with Lilac 94 about preparing FREUDE
10:30pm – Stockhausen’s Collaborators (Esther M Morgan-Ellis)