Stockhausen’s compositional and electronic wizardry influenced a generation of musicians from jazz greats such as Charles Mingus and Miles Davis through to Frank Zappa, Pete Townshend and Björk. In 2007, he died suddenly while in the midst of composing his epic work Klang, intended to consist of 24 chamber-music compositions, each representing one hour of the day.

New Music Dublin is proud to present Simon Smith, the Edinburgh-based pianist famous for his interpretations of Stockhausen and György Ligeti, to give the Irish premiere performance of Natural Durations - Stockhausen’s last piano piece and the third ‘hour’ of Klang - as a highly intimate, concentrated-listening “lock in” performance.

“He goes one step ahead, discovers something that’s never even been done before musically, and by the time other people have even grasped it, he’s on to the next thing.” Bjork, on Stockhausen

“Smith is a phenomenon—nothing daunts him, technically or musically” The Scotsman, on Simon Smith

Since peering out from the cover of the The Beatles’ album Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (he appears in the back row, between Lenny Bruce and WC Fields), Stockhausen has inspired, confounded and confused his admirers and detractors in equal measures. Over the course of six decades he became known for a flair for the theatrical, most famously in ‘Helicopter String Quartet’ a string quartet that was, indeed, performed in helicopters and broadcast to the audience below — but also in compositions like ‘Trans’ which required the musicians to execute strict choreography while playing.

When speaking about Stockhausen to the MIT News in 2016, Simon Smith said that Stockhausen’s music “has an atmosphere. I can’t exactly put my finger on why or how. But as soon as it starts you’ve been taken to a different place, or a whole new environment where things are going to happen which you wouldn’t necessarily expect.”

Please note that this is a “lock in” performance; all audience members must be seated before the start, and if they leave for any reason there will be no re-admission. Latecomers will not be admitted.

SIMON SMITH

Composer Karlheinz Stockhausen