Stockhausen’s Stimmung

Concert with Nordic Voices

Sunday 14 September, at 15:00–16:00

195–400 kr

35 % off with ultiMATE

Nordic Voices takes you on a luminous meditation on resonance and the power of the human voice.

When a note is sung, the voice vibrates and produces a series of tones, or overtones, that ring above the main note like a shadow, giving it character and depth. In a reverberant space, these overtones are amplified. They linger and blend into a shimmering halo that can make the music feel spacious. Some speak of a glowing aura — a presence almost without weight.

Stimmung (1968), Karlheinz Stockhausen’s hour-long vocal piece, relies solely on overtone singing and vocal harmonies.

In the unusually reverberant mausoleum of Emanuel Vigeland, this aura expands tenfold, enveloping the listener. The piece incorporates the chanting of names of gods and goddesses from various cultures — Egyptian, Aztec, Christian — reflecting the composer’s interest in spirituality and ritual.

Though performed entirely with voices, Stimmung draws on electronic music thinking, particularly in the subtle pulsations that arise as performers overlap and phase with one another, repeating the same motifs with ever-changing articulation. The result is a music that is fluid, as if suspended.

Pre-concert conversation

14.30 Emanuel Vigelands museum

Musician and Stockhausen’s daughter, Christel Stockhausen-Hektoen, will join Nordic Voices singer Frank Havrøy and Ultima’s director Heloisa Amaral in a conversation about her father and his work.

Facts

Stimmung (German): mood; lively atmosphere; vibe; exuberance; tuning. Similar to stimme: voice. From stimmen: to harmonise; be in tune; set in accord
Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007) on composing Stimmung: "I'd just come back from Mexico where I'd spent a month walking through the ruins, visiting Oaxaca, Merida, and Chichenitza, and becoming a Maya, a Toltec and a Zatopec, an Aztec, or a Spaniard—I became the people."
The Emanuel Vigeland Museum at Slemdal houses a dark, barrel-vaulted room covered with frescoes depicting human life from conception to death. Originally conceived as a museum, Vigeland later chose to use the space as his mausoleum. The space is beloved by musicians for its extraordinary acoustics: it takes around ten seconds for sound to fade.