Refrain (Stockhausen)
Encyclopedia
Refrain for 3 players is a chamber-music composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen
, and is number 11 in his catalog of works.
, and is dedicated to Ernst Brücher (Stockhausen 1964, 101). It was premiered on 2 October 1959 by David Tudor
(piano), Cornelius Cardew
(celesta), and a percussionist from the WDR
Symphony Orchestra, Siegfried Rockstroh (vibraphone), at the Berlin Congresshalle
, as part of an all-Stockhausen concert that also included Kreuzspiel
, Zeitmaße
, Zyklus
, and the Klavierstücke I, IV, V, VII, VIII, and XI
(Kurtz 1992, 98).
on a rotatable transparent plastic strip, superimposed on curved staves which allow the refrain to be repositioned in order to introduce these disturbances in different places (Maconie 2005, 188).
Each of the three performers plays an accessory instrument in addition to a main instrument. The pianist also plays three woodblocks, the celesta is supplemented with three antique cymbals, and the vibraphonist has three alpine cowbells coupled with three glockenspiel bars. This means that there are six distinct timbres
reflecting the pitch structure, which divides the twelve-tone row into two symmetrical six-note cells. This six-element structure is found also in the dynamics, as well as in the durations of both sounds and rests (Frisius 2008, 128). The three performers also are required to vocalise tongue clicks
on five approximate pitches and short, sharp phonetic syllables to be pitched near the sounds they play, in a manner reminiscent of Japanese theatre
(Harvey 1975, 87). The basic structure of the background layer of the piece consists of a series of chords derived from an all-interval twelve-tone row that Stockhausen used in a number of other works (Frisius 2008, 128–30).
The work concludes with a coda
, in which the elements are merged into a single complex sound (Harvey 1975, 87–88).
seem determined on the disorganization of all conventional musical factors", he nevertheless reported that the "concert had a tremendous success, far more than the normal events" (Smith Brindle 1960). The work's timbres were especially singled out for praise. In a festival report, Ben Johnston described it as "jewel-like" (Johnston 1963, 139), and a New York Times critic found "its clusters of attractive percussive sounds" to be "fresh" (Ericson 1964). On an all-Stockhausen programme in 1965, the Times critic found Refrain the "most intriguing of all with its blends of keyboard timbre and percussive sound" (Anon. 1965), and a Los Angeles critic admired its "highly refined, luminous percussion" with "pensive strokes of vibraphone, celesta, and piano six times interrupted and reactivated by the only slightly more dynamic refrain of the title" (Peterson 1974).
Controversy mainly centred on Refrains unconventional notation and its relation to the resulting music. In a 1962 review of the printed score, Robert Henderson doubted whether "there are people with the energy and enthusiasm to work out in detail the precise significance of all these complex signs and then make from them a performance" and, if there were, whether "the labour involved could ever be justified by the end-product", pronouncing it merely "an amusing musical kaleidescope [sic] for those with unlimited amounts of unoccupied time" (Henderson 1962).
Another critic initially shared Henderson's reservations but, "Having heard both these works performed 'live', … I am moved to add that some of the perplexities mentioned above now seem less puzzling. In fact Refrain seemed a fascinating and lively performance on stage. … I was most pleased to discover that the composition 'projected' most successfully" and "the live performance was brilliant, convincing, stimulating, perhaps even fathomable" (Zimmermann 1963–64, 241–243).
At around this same time, Peter Stadlen
had similarly attacked the notation of Refrain in a programme on BBC Television
. For this he was scolded by Tim Souster
for having an "obsession with notation", while at the same time seeming oblivious of the fact that "Refrain is one of the finest examples of notation in the history of music". Souster concluded that
The highest profile attack on Refrain, however, was made as part of a political polemic by Cornelius Cardew
, who had been Stockhausen's assistant and had played celesta in the world premiere. In 1972 Hans Keller
asked him to introduce a broadcast of the work on BBC Radio and Cardew, a recent convert to Marxism, seized on its comparative popularity as an opportunity to condemn the composition as "a part of the cultural superstructure of the largest-scale system of human oppression and exploitation the world has ever known: imperialism
" (Cardew 1974, 46). Writing in what has been described as "the most vulgar style of Marxist conventions" (Deliège 2003, 257), Cardew viewed the European avant garde, whose "abstruse, pseudo-scientific tendencies were encouraged in ivory tower conditions" as having been by 1959 "ready to crack from its own internal contradictions". The leading figures of this group, at the head of which stood Stockhausen, were eager to find a broader audience, and achieving this required change. "Refrain was probably the first manifestation of this change in Stockhausen’s work. Since then his work has become quite clearly mystical
in character" (Cardew 1974, 48). Because "Mysticism says 'everything that lives is holy', so don’t walk on the grass and above all don't harm a hair on the head of an imperialist" (Cardew 1974, 50), Refrain "is an ally of imperialism and an enemy of the working and oppressed people of the world", and is comparable with other manifestations of imperialism, specifically "the British Army in Ireland and the mass of unemployed, for example. Here the brutal character of imperialism is evident. Any beauty that may be detected in Refrain is merely cosmetic, not even skin-deep" (Cardew 1974, 55).
Publication of the first half of Cardew's lecture in The Listener "provoked a storm in its correspondence columns" (Cardew 1974, 55) and, as a result of this and a similar attack on John Cage
, Cardew "temporarily lost my voice at the BBC". According to his testimony, "Punishments were also meted out inside the BBC on account of the Stockhausen broadcast which by mischance was heard by a high official of the Corporation" (Cardew 1974, 34).
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
, and is number 11 in his catalog of works.
History
Refrain was composed in June and July 1959 on commission from G. von Westerman for the Berlin FestwochenBerliner Festspiele
The Berliner Festspiele arts center brings together a variety of arts and culture events under one roof each year in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1951. Throughout the year, festivals, program series, and individual events enrich the cultural scene of the city...
, and is dedicated to Ernst Brücher (Stockhausen 1964, 101). It was premiered on 2 October 1959 by David Tudor
David Tudor
David Eugene Tudor was an American pianist and composer of experimental music.- Biography :Tudor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He studied piano with Irma Wolpe and composition with Stefan Wolpe and became known as one of the leading performers of avant garde piano music. He gave the...
(piano), Cornelius Cardew
Cornelius Cardew
Cornelius Cardew was an English experimental music composer, and founder of the Scratch Orchestra, an experimental performing ensemble. He later rejected the avant-garde in favour of a politically motivated "people's liberation music".-Biography:Cardew was born in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire...
(celesta), and a percussionist from the WDR
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...
Symphony Orchestra, Siegfried Rockstroh (vibraphone), at the Berlin Congresshalle
Haus der Kulturen der Welt
The Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin is Germany's national centre for contemporary non-European art. It presents art exhibitions, theater and dance performances, concerts, author readings, films and academic conferences on non-European Visual Art and culture...
, as part of an all-Stockhausen concert that also included Kreuzspiel
Kreuzspiel
Kreuzspiel is a composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen written for oboe, bass clarinet, piano and four percussionists in 1951 ....
, Zeitmaße
Zeitmaße
Zeitmaße for five woodwinds is a chamber-music work by German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, and is Number 5 in the composer's catalog...
, Zyklus
Zyklus
Zyklus für einen Schlagzeuger is a composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen, assigned Number 9 in the composer's catalog of works. It was composed in 1959 at the request of Wolfgang Steinecke as a test piece for a percussion competition at the Darmstadt Summer Courses, where it was premièred on 25...
, and the Klavierstücke I, IV, V, VII, VIII, and XI
Klavierstücke (Stockhausen)
The Klavierstücke constitute a series of nineteen compositions by German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen.Stockhausen has said the Klavierstücke "are my drawings"...
(Kurtz 1992, 98).
Materials and Form
The title refers to the disturbance six times of a placid and wide-rangingly composed sound texture by a short refrain (Stockhausen 1964, 101). These refrains are notatedMusical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
on a rotatable transparent plastic strip, superimposed on curved staves which allow the refrain to be repositioned in order to introduce these disturbances in different places (Maconie 2005, 188).
Each of the three performers plays an accessory instrument in addition to a main instrument. The pianist also plays three woodblocks, the celesta is supplemented with three antique cymbals, and the vibraphonist has three alpine cowbells coupled with three glockenspiel bars. This means that there are six distinct timbres
Timbre composition
Timbre composition is the art of creating new timbres. It is often performed electronically, either by combining sinewaves or by filtering out harmonics from more complex waves ....
reflecting the pitch structure, which divides the twelve-tone row into two symmetrical six-note cells. This six-element structure is found also in the dynamics, as well as in the durations of both sounds and rests (Frisius 2008, 128). The three performers also are required to vocalise tongue clicks
Click consonant
Clicks are speech sounds found as consonants in many languages of southern Africa, and in three languages of East Africa. Examples of these sounds familiar to English speakers are the tsk! tsk! or tut-tut used to express disapproval or pity, the tchick! used to spur on a horse, and the...
on five approximate pitches and short, sharp phonetic syllables to be pitched near the sounds they play, in a manner reminiscent of Japanese theatre
Theatre of Japan
Traditional Japanese theatre includes kabuki, noh and bunraku.-Traditional form of theater:There are four major forms of traditional Japanese theater that are famous around the world. These are Noh, Kyogen, Kabuki, and Bunraku, or puppet theater....
(Harvey 1975, 87). The basic structure of the background layer of the piece consists of a series of chords derived from an all-interval twelve-tone row that Stockhausen used in a number of other works (Frisius 2008, 128–30).
The work concludes with a coda
Coda (music)
Coda is a term used in music in a number of different senses, primarily to designate a passage that brings a piece to an end. Technically, it is an expanded cadence...
, in which the elements are merged into a single complex sound (Harvey 1975, 87–88).
Critical reception
On the whole, performances of Refrain were well-received by the press and public. At an early performance in Venice, although a skeptical reviewer thought "Stockhausen's Refrain and KontakteKontakte (Stockhausen)
Kontakte is a celebrated electronic music work by Karlheinz Stockhausen, realized in 1958–60 at the Westdeutscher Rundfunk electronic-music studio in Cologne with the assistance of Gottfried Michael Koenig .-Work history:The title of the work “refers both to contacts between instrumental and...
seem determined on the disorganization of all conventional musical factors", he nevertheless reported that the "concert had a tremendous success, far more than the normal events" (Smith Brindle 1960). The work's timbres were especially singled out for praise. In a festival report, Ben Johnston described it as "jewel-like" (Johnston 1963, 139), and a New York Times critic found "its clusters of attractive percussive sounds" to be "fresh" (Ericson 1964). On an all-Stockhausen programme in 1965, the Times critic found Refrain the "most intriguing of all with its blends of keyboard timbre and percussive sound" (Anon. 1965), and a Los Angeles critic admired its "highly refined, luminous percussion" with "pensive strokes of vibraphone, celesta, and piano six times interrupted and reactivated by the only slightly more dynamic refrain of the title" (Peterson 1974).
Controversy mainly centred on Refrains unconventional notation and its relation to the resulting music. In a 1962 review of the printed score, Robert Henderson doubted whether "there are people with the energy and enthusiasm to work out in detail the precise significance of all these complex signs and then make from them a performance" and, if there were, whether "the labour involved could ever be justified by the end-product", pronouncing it merely "an amusing musical kaleidescope [sic] for those with unlimited amounts of unoccupied time" (Henderson 1962).
Another critic initially shared Henderson's reservations but, "Having heard both these works performed 'live', … I am moved to add that some of the perplexities mentioned above now seem less puzzling. In fact Refrain seemed a fascinating and lively performance on stage. … I was most pleased to discover that the composition 'projected' most successfully" and "the live performance was brilliant, convincing, stimulating, perhaps even fathomable" (Zimmermann 1963–64, 241–243).
At around this same time, Peter Stadlen
Peter Stadlen
Peter Stadlen was a composer, pianist, and musicologist, specializing in the study and interpretation of Beethoven....
had similarly attacked the notation of Refrain in a programme on BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
. For this he was scolded by Tim Souster
Tim Souster
Tim Souster was a British composer best known for his electronic music output.- Background :Born Timothy Andrew James Souster in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, Souster was educated at Bedford Modern School and New College, Oxford...
for having an "obsession with notation", while at the same time seeming oblivious of the fact that "Refrain is one of the finest examples of notation in the history of music". Souster concluded that
One cannot stress too often the importance of letting new music, serial, indeterminate, improvised or electronic, speak directly to the ear, uncluttered by preconceptions or by anxiety about the way the score works. How the music is written down is a very minor consideration to the hundreds of people who fill concerts of Stockhausen's and Cage's music. They respond directly to the audible reality of the music, not to written abstractions, in a way which is all too rare in the critical fraternity. If he trusted his ears, Mr. Stadlen would be a happier man. (Souster 1969)
The highest profile attack on Refrain, however, was made as part of a political polemic by Cornelius Cardew
Cornelius Cardew
Cornelius Cardew was an English experimental music composer, and founder of the Scratch Orchestra, an experimental performing ensemble. He later rejected the avant-garde in favour of a politically motivated "people's liberation music".-Biography:Cardew was born in Winchcombe, Gloucestershire...
, who had been Stockhausen's assistant and had played celesta in the world premiere. In 1972 Hans Keller
Hans Keller
Hans Keller was an influential Austrian-born British musician and writer who made significant contributions to musicology and music criticism, as well as being an insightful commentator on such disparate fields as psychoanalysis and football...
asked him to introduce a broadcast of the work on BBC Radio and Cardew, a recent convert to Marxism, seized on its comparative popularity as an opportunity to condemn the composition as "a part of the cultural superstructure of the largest-scale system of human oppression and exploitation the world has ever known: imperialism
Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism
Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism , by Lenin, describes the function of financial capital in generating profits from imperial colonialism, as the final stage of capitalist development to ensure greater profits...
" (Cardew 1974, 46). Writing in what has been described as "the most vulgar style of Marxist conventions" (Deliège 2003, 257), Cardew viewed the European avant garde, whose "abstruse, pseudo-scientific tendencies were encouraged in ivory tower conditions" as having been by 1959 "ready to crack from its own internal contradictions". The leading figures of this group, at the head of which stood Stockhausen, were eager to find a broader audience, and achieving this required change. "Refrain was probably the first manifestation of this change in Stockhausen’s work. Since then his work has become quite clearly mystical
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
in character" (Cardew 1974, 48). Because "Mysticism says 'everything that lives is holy', so don’t walk on the grass and above all don't harm a hair on the head of an imperialist" (Cardew 1974, 50), Refrain "is an ally of imperialism and an enemy of the working and oppressed people of the world", and is comparable with other manifestations of imperialism, specifically "the British Army in Ireland and the mass of unemployed, for example. Here the brutal character of imperialism is evident. Any beauty that may be detected in Refrain is merely cosmetic, not even skin-deep" (Cardew 1974, 55).
Publication of the first half of Cardew's lecture in The Listener "provoked a storm in its correspondence columns" (Cardew 1974, 55) and, as a result of this and a similar attack on John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
, Cardew "temporarily lost my voice at the BBC". According to his testimony, "Punishments were also meted out inside the BBC on account of the Stockhausen broadcast which by mischance was heard by a high official of the Corporation" (Cardew 1974, 34).
Discography
- Karlheinz Stockhausen. Zyklus, Refrain. Mauricio KagelMauricio KagelMauricio Kagel was a German-Argentine composer. He was notable for his interest in developing the theatrical side of musical performance .-Biography:...
, Transición II. Christoph Caskel (percussion); Aloys Kontarsky (piano); Bernhard Kontarsky (celesta); David Tudor (piano). With LP recording, stereo. Series 2000. Time S 8001. [N.p.]: Time Records, 1961. Reissued, 1970s, LP recording, stereo. Mainstream MS 5003. [N.p.]: Mainstream Records. Reissued on CD as Karlheinz Stockhausen, Mauricio Kagel, Earle Brown; Udo Wüstendörfer; Karlheinz Stockhausen; Mauricio Kagel; Christoph Caskel; Aloys Kontarsky; Bernhard Kontarsky; David Tudor. Mainz: Schott Wergo Music Media, Wergo WER 6929 2. Mainz: Wergo, 2009. Also as part of the 3-disc set, ‘‘Earle Brown, a Life in Music, Vol. 1’‘. 3-CD set. Earle Brown Contemporary Sound Series. Wergo WER 6928 2, 6929 2, 6930 2. Mainz: Wergo, 2009. - Karlheinz Stockhausen. Kontakte for electronic sounds, piano and percussion. Refrain, for three performers. Aloys Kontarsky (piano), Karlheinz Stockhausen (celesta), Christoph Caskel (percussion). Candide CE 31022. New York: Vox Records, 1968. Also issued on LP as Vox Candide Series STGBY 638 (New York: Vox Records, 1969), Vox WARNER H-4403V (Japan), and Vox Fratelli Fabbri Editori mm-1098 LP (Italy). Reissued on CD, together with a recording of Zyklus, Stockhausen Complete Edition CD 6. Kürten: Stockhausen Verlag, 1993.
- Karlheinz Stockhausen. Zyklus (2 versions), Refrain, Kontakte. Bernhard Wambach (piano), Mircea Ardeleanu (percussion), Fred Rensch (celesta). CD recording. Koch-Schwann Musica Mundi CD 310 020 H1. Austria: Koch-Records GmbH Schwann, 1988.
- Karlheinz Stockhausen. Zyklus, Refrain, Kontakte. Florent Jodelet (percussion), Gérard Frémy (piano), Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (celesta). CD. Una Corda series. Accord 202742. France: Accord, 1993.
- Karlheinz Stockhausen. 3 × Refrain 2000. Benjamin Kobler (piano with 3 woodblocks), Antonio Pérez Abellán (sampler-celesta with 3 antique cymbals), Andreas Boettger (vibraphone with 3 cowbells and glockenspiel). CD recording. Two editions, one with a spoken introduction in German, the other in English. Stockhausen Complete Edition CD 62. Kürten: Stockhausen Verlag, 2000.
- Karlheinz Stockhausen. Kontra-Punkte, Refrain, Zeitmaße, Schlagtrio. Ensemble Recherche: Jean-Pierre Collot (piano), Klaus Steffes-Holländer (celesta), Christian Dierstein (percussion). In the other works: Martin Fahlenbock (flute), Jaime González (oboe), Florian Hasel (cor anglais), Shizuyo Oka (clarinet), Uwe Möckel (bass clarinet), Mario Kopf (bassoon), Markus Schwind (trumpet), Andrew Digby (trombone), Mariko Nishioka (percussion), Beate Anton (harp), Melisa Mellinger (violin), Åsa Åkerberg (cello). Rupert Huber (cond., in Kontra-Punkte and Zeitmaße). Wergo CD WER 6717 2. Mainz: Wergo, 2009.
- Karlheinz Stockhausen. Plus-Minus (with Refrain and Kreuzspiel). Ives Ensemble: John Snijders (piano), Reiner van Houdt (celesta), and Arnold Marinissen (percussion) in Refrain, plus Rik Andriessen (flute), Esther Probst (oboe), Hans Petra (bass clarinet), Jan Willem van der Ham (bassoon), Fons Verspaandonk (horn), Jan Bastiani (trombone), Wilbert Grootenboer and Fedor Teunisse (percussion), Josje ter Haar (violin), Ruben Sanderse (viola), Job ter Haar (cello), and Diederik Meijnckens (double bass). Richard Rijvos (cond., in "Kreuzspiel" only). CD recording. Hat Hut hat[now]ART 178. Basel, Switzerland: Hat Hut Records Ltd. Basel: Hat Hut, 2010.