Sebastiano De Gennaro/Lorenzo Brusci
Karlheinz Stockhausen, Tierkreis
the upside down versions
Label: 19’40″, 2020

TRACKLIST:

Tierkreis, Karlheinz Stockhausen (1974-75), elaboration of Sebastiano De Gennaro
1-Acquarius
2-Pisces
3-Aries
4-Taurus
5-Gemini
6-Cancer
7-Leo
8-Virgo
9-Libra
10-Scorpio
11-Sagittarius
12-Capricorn

TearCrisis, a Stockhausen-inspired space-promenade of Lorenzo Brusci

13-Acquarius upside down
14-Pisces upside down
15-Aries upside down
16-Taurus upside down
17-Gemini upside down
18-Cancer upside down
19-Leo upside down
20-Virgo upside down
21-Libra upside down
22-Scorpio upside down
23-Sagittarius upside down
24-Capricorn upside down

CREDITS:
Esecutori di Metallo su Carta
Sebastiano De Gennaro Casio SK-1
Enrico Gabrielli mikroKORG and Casio SA-75
Yoko Morimyo viola and violin
Giovanni Mancuso Casio PT-180
Lorenzo Brusci sound design, meta-composition

Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Tierkreis elaboration of Sebastiano De Gennaro:
Recorded at VHT of Porto Marghera (Venezia) on the 8th june 2018 by V.E.R-V.:
Claudio Bellini, Giovanni Dinello, Furio Ganz, Michele Mescalchin, Valeria Segna, Riccaro Sellan, Giovanni Sparano, Enrico Wiltsch, Emanuele Wiltsch Barberio.
Mixed by Emanuele Frison

TearCrisis, a Stockhausen-inspired space-promenade of Lorenzo Brusci
Recording at Angelica Festival (Bologna) 12th january 2018 by Roberto Rettura.
Meta-Mix by Lorenzo Brusci MusstDesign

Lorenzo Brusci, graphics 
Will Langstone, english editor
Maria Guzzon, photos
Francesco Fusaro, Lorenzo Brusci, V.E.R.V. musicological notes
Samantha Parrello, editorial support
Eugenio Crippa, layout
Francesco Fusaro, Lorenzo Brusci, Emanuele Wiltsch Barberio translations

DESCRIPTION

The title may trick you into thinking Stockhausen got trapped into that thing called programme music but don’t be fooled: it’s still good old Karlheinz we are talking here, with serially-structured melodies, arithmetic series, and a vertigo-inducing number of versions and interpolations as you would expect from the helicopter-quartet man. Let’s revisit the basics, then: it’s 1975 and Stockhausen is busy with a theatre piece called Musik Im Bauch (‘Music in the Belly’), for which he pens twelve melodies (one for each sign of the Zodiac, “Tierkreis’ in German) for six percussionists and music boxes. As he said, “in inventing each melody, I thought of the characters of children, friends, and acquaintances who were born under the various star signs” (one is tempted to think of Elgar and his Enigma Variations here). The sheer wit and beauty of this set propelled it outside the piece, and made the now autonomous Tierkreis (for any melody instrument and / or chordal instrument) quite a favourite of his catalogue, and even—logistically speaking—an “easier” one to perform, too! As I said above, the work has also been reworked for a variety of groups, including in some cases one to five voices, for the composer himself penned twelve texts that “describe the most prominent characteristics of the 12 human types”. If you visit Cologne, you can also enjoy it in a special ‘carillon version’ designed for the bell tower of the local Town Hall.
Everyone says they don’t believe in the Zodiac, until they are found composing (some seriously scrumptious) music inspired by it!

Francesco Fusaro