Comments on On An Overgrown Path: The art of Stockhausen and Schumann

Lisa, your comment is very much on subject. I was ...

2007-12-15T21:56:00.000Z

Lisa, your comment is very much on subject. I was thinking yesterday how nice it was that this Stockhausen path has led us to the 19th century - where I should spend more time.

The JEG Schumann Symphonies seem to be the critics choice. I am right, I think, in saying only Nos 1 & 4 are available separately, otherwise it is still quite a pricey set 3 CD to buy. So, I am afraid, it is still on my wish list.

While in this period I should also mention Charles Mackerras' 'small is beautiful' cycle of the Brahms Symphonies on Teldec - a real delight.

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp;jsessionid=5C85DEE0B171E218DBBC1DBB5DA5C71E?album_id=10241

Not exactly on this subject, but John Gardiner's S...

2007-12-15T21:14:00.000Z

Not exactly on this subject, but John Gardiner's Schumann symphony set with the ORR is terrific, and includes both an early version of one of the symphonies and the Konzertstuck for four horns.

Norman Lebrecht does give us another link between ...

2007-12-14T14:32:00.000Z

Norman Lebrecht does give us another link between Stockhausen and Schumann:

In Gesang der Junglinge (the small boy’s song), he modulated the voice of a boy chorister from Cologne Cathedral against an electronic track to the point where one became indistinguishable from the other, achieving a magical fusion of real and surreal.

Email received:There may be yet another connection...

2007-12-14T13:32:00.000Z

Email received:

There may be yet another connection : dare I say it? Mental illness.

Reading some of the personal tributes and reminiscences of Stockhausen, for example, in The Guardian, I can't help but think what I've been thinking about him for a few decades : that he had elements of Schizophrenia.

From my own experience, having known quite a number of Schizophrenics (lucky me), they qre quite adept at hiding their disability, particularly when they are extraordinarily gifted. And Stockhausen was, without doubt, gifted. And his personal pain, as you read between the lines seemed emmense, again, much like Schumann.

It's also interesting to note that a lot of Shamanistic cultures, and Stockhausen has been called a Shaman, seem to be way of interpreting what we would now consider to be psychotic episodes as different and important voices and visions of wisdom. That's probably a more humane way of dealing with the condition than most modern day approaches.

Cheers

David Cavlovic

And another connection? ... Shaman - Schumann

Find it here - http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrec...

2007-12-14T12:57:00.000Z

Find it here -

http://www.scena.org/columns/lebrecht/071212-NL-Stockhausen.html

On the subject of Stockhausen, it's worth reading ...

2007-12-14T10:48:00.000Z

On the subject of Stockhausen, it's worth reading the latest from Norman Lebrecht, if only for the usual clutch of howlers.