Sounds of the Zodiac

About

It’s perhaps slightly ironic that the German post-war composer Karlheinz Stockhausen—author of what are arguably of the most ambitious and complex staged works ever created in the Western classical music canon—is often remembered for a series of short melodies that the composer himself once described as “cheerful, empty-headed little tunes.” While certainly short and often cheery, his TIERKREIS: 12 Melodien der Sternzeichen (ZODIAC: 12 Melodies of the Star Signs) are anything but empty-headed. These twelve character pieces, named after the twelve signs of the Zodiac, were originally composed for music boxes, each inspired by “the characters of children, friends, and acquaintances who were born under the star signs”.

Stockhausen intended for performers to develop unique interpretations of TIERKREIS: in performance, each star sign’s melody (and accompaniment) is repeated 3 or 4 times and varied to “make the [melodies’] structures clearly perceivable, and to make them interesting for listeners.” In addition to varying the character of each star sign (through variation in dynamic, articulation, orchestration, and colour), interpreters can also highlight their unique pitch, interval, and rhythmic structures. Over the course of his life, Stockhausen completed eleven arrangements of TIERKREIS for various ensembles ranging from voice and piano to full orchestra, and used the melodies as the basis for his proto-operatic work SIRIUS (1975-77).

The arrangement you’ll hear (by clarinettist Liam Hockley) is grouped into the four seasons; these were presented to Canadian composers Wolf Edwards, Annette Brosin, Anna Pidgorna, and Hiroki Tsurumoto as the basis for four new works that re-envision the seasons, climate change, astrology, and even Stockhausen himself through a uniquely 21st century lens.