Extraterrestrial Serialist & Atonal Madness?

[Yithian]

I've heard it claimed that arch-composer Karlheinz Stockhausen believes (or just dreamt that) he was born and educated on (variously) either Sirius or some body orbitting it. Can anybody shed any light on this... err... suprising information?

:?:

 

[GNC]

Are you sure you're not getting mixed up with Sun Ra? Or was that Saturn?

 

[Graylien]

Sun Ra described himself a member of the 'Angel Race' from Saturn - my guess is that he was claiming to be what is now termed a 'walk-in' rather than that he was literally from Saturn (he was actually born in Alabama).

He wrote and starred in his own feature film - Space is the Place - (which was recently re-released on DVD) as a Christ-like character who flies around in a spaceship resembling the Beatle's yellow submarine. The film is a lot less fun than it sounds - although it does feature Mr Ra in some pretty amazing costumes - and at least half of the running time is devoted to some rather aimless free-jazz jamming.

I hadn't heard of Stockhausen's claims before. For some reason I thought he was dead, but apparently he's still going strong and writing space operas (literally) and string quartets "in which each player performs, airborne, from their own helicopter". Beat that, Spinal Tap!

From the Guardian: Beam me up, Stocky

 

[Anonymous]

Hmmm....I thought he was dead too. It would be interesting to find out when he started believing and then promulgating these delusions - late teens to mid twenties would put him in the schizophrenic category

 

[James_H]

at least half of the running time is devoted to some rather aimless free-jazz jamming.

Which is good, if you like it.

apparently he's still going strong and writing space operas (literally) and string quartets "in which each player performs, airborne, from their own helicopter". Beat that, Spinal Tap!

Had to listen to one of these in a music lesson a few years back. I developed a migraine and had to spend the rest of the day in darkness at home!

 

[Graylien]

Esoterica recently ran this lengthy feature on Sun Ra and his philosophy:

From Ephrata (F-Ra-Ta) to Arkestra

Also another interesting piece here:
Sun Ra: Stranger from Outer Space

And it seems the Arkestra are still going strong, and still making joyously experimental music:
Official Arkestra Website


Incidentally, another musician strongly influenced the Egyptian mythos was saxophonist Pharoah Sanders. Like Ra, he enjoyed dressing up in Egyptian-style clothing and indulging in lengthy free-jazz jams which incorporated rhythms and instruments from African folk music. Judging from recent interviews, he's fallen on rather hard times lately.

 

[Yithian]

 

[Yithian]

Sun Ra described himself a member of the 'Angel Race' from Saturn - my guess is that he was claiming to be what is now termed a 'walk-in' rather than that he was literally from Saturn (he was actually born in Alabama).

He wrote and starred in his own feature film - Space is the Place - (which was recently re-released on DVD) as a Christ-like character who flies around in a spaceship resembling the Beatle's yellow submarine. The film is a lot less fun than it sounds - although it does feature Mr Ra in some pretty amazing costumes - and at least half of the running time is devoted to some rather aimless free-jazz jamming.

I hadn't heard of Stockhausen's claims before. For some reason I thought he was dead, but apparently he's still going strong and writing space operas (literally) and string quartets "in which each player performs, airborne, from their own helicopter". Beat that, Spinal Tap!

From the Guardian: Beam me up, Stocky

From that article:

Composer Karlheinz Stockhausen has turned himself into a musical myth. This is the man who has influenced everyone from Brian Eno to Björk, and who appeared on the cover of the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper's album, sandwiched between Carl Jung and Mae West. On his website, he credits himself as the father of electronic music, spatial music and universal music. He spent 30 years composing seven operas called Licht ("Light"), one for each day of the week, and recently he embarked on Klang ("Sound"), a series of 24-hour-long pieces to be performed in a single day - a sort of musical version of 24, but without the threat of terrorism. As if that wasn't enough, this 77-year-old musical pioneer has claimed that he comes not from Burg Mödrath, near Cologne (listed as his birthplace on his biography), but rather from a planet orbiting the star Sirius, and that he was put on earth to give voice to a cosmic music that will change the world. He is, to put it mildly, a one-off.​

 

[EnolaGaia]

I've heard it claimed that arch-composer Karlheinz Stockhausen believes (or just dreamt that) he was born and educated on (variously) either Sirius or some body orbitting it. Can anybody shed any light on this... err... suprising information? :?:

I notice no one ever responded to Yith's original query ...

The primary source is his obituary by Sebastian Reier in Die Zeit (9 December 2007), which begins with Reier quoting Stockhausen as follows (via Google Translation):

The composer Karlheinz Stockhausen left the earth at the age of 79 years. He wants to continue his work from the center of the galaxy.
In the rhythm of the stars ...

Who can say of themselves: "I was trained on Sirius, and there I want to go back, even though I still live in Kürten near Cologne." The composer Karlheinz Stockhausen has always managed to think the other way around. ...

SOURCE: https://www.zeit.de/online/2007/50/stockhausen-nachruf/komplettansicht