Singcircle, Kathinka Pasveer

Marking ten years since Stockhausen’s death, vocal ensemble Singcircle and some of the composer’s closest associates, including his long-time artistic collaborator Kathinka Pasveer, perform two of his defining masterpieces.

This concert also celebrates the 40th anniversary of Singcircle's performance of Stimmung – a piece they have performed over 50 times, including a memorable performance in the Barbican's "Music & Machines" festival of 1986, dedicated to Stockhausen, when he controlled the amplification. Regarded as a leading exponent of contemporary vocal music, Singcircle have declared this to be their farewell concert, and, as such, this concert of extremes will undoubtedly be a memorable affair.

The concert begins with the yogic, meditative and trance-like work for six unaccompanied voices Stimmung, often viewed as one of the iconic compositions of the 1960s. The work, built around the note B flat and its associated harmonics, embraces elements drawn from non-Western religions and cultures, and intertwines excerpts from Stockhausen’s own erotic poems.

It is followed by Stockhausen’s last electronic composition, the monumental Cosmic Pulses, which forms part of his larger unfinished Klang (‘sound’) composition cycle. German sound and laser artist Robert Henke will provide a new, especially devised laser installation to accompany the performance of Cosmic Pulses, visually expressing some of the formal beauty of the piece.

The laser’s beams will be corresponding to the layers of sound in the music, creating Henke’s trademark geometrical sculptures above the heads of the audience. Henke says: Cosmic Pulses is one of electronic music’s great experiences: an overwhelming, visceral, sonic maelstrom in the total immersion of surround sound.

This is a welcome return to the Barbican from Henke, following his world premiere performance of Lumière III in February 2017 and his presentation of Lumière I as part of the Barbican’s Digital Revolution exhibition in 2014.