Stockhausen regarded Kreuzspiel as his first original composition, as opposed to the style-imitation exercises he did as part of his music studies. According to the composer, it was influenced by Olivier Messiaen's "Mode de valeurs et d'intensités" and Karel Goeyvaerts's Sonata for Two Pianos, and is one of the earliest examples of "point" music. Kreuzspiel was premièred at the Darmstädter Internationale Ferienkursein the summer of 1952, conducted by the composer. According to Stockhausen, the performance "ended in a scandal".
Analysis
Kreuzspiel has been analysed in print more often than any other work by Stockhausen, though all but one restrict themselves to just the first of its three stages. Though routinely described as a "serial" composition, Kreuzspiel does not employ a referential, recurring twelve-toneordered set. Rather, it uses constant reordering of twelve-element sets—a device sometimes called "permutational serialism". It also uses a permutational seven-element system to control register. The composition consists of three linked movements, or "stages". In the first stage, six notes begin in the highest register, and six others begin in the lowest register. These gradually move into the four middle octaves until an equal distribution of pitches throughout the entire range is achieved at the centre of the movement. From that point to the end of the movement, the process is reversed, so that all notes arrive again in the two extreme registers, only the six notes originally in the top are now at the bottom, and vice versa. The second movement carries out a similar formal process, only starting in the middle register, spreading out to all seven octaves, and then contracting again to the middle. The third movement superimposes the first two. Compositional control of these shapes is determined in the first stage through the parameter of duration, while in the second stage the dominant element is pitch.
Discography
50 Jahre neue Musik in Darmstadt, Vol. 1. Includes Kreuzspiel. Romolo Grano, oboe; Friedrich Wildgans, bass clarinet; Irmela Sandt, piano; Hans Rossmann, Bruno Maderna, Willy Trumpfheller, and Paul Geppert, percussion; conducted by Karlheinz Stockhausen. Recorded 21 July 1952. CD recording. Col Legno WWE 1CD 31894. Munich: Col Legno, 1996. Also issued as part of 4-CD set, 50 Jahre neue Musik in Darmstadt. Col Legno WWE 4CD 31893 ; vol. 1: WWE 1 CD 31894; vol. 2: WWE 1 CD 31895; vol. 3: WWE 1 CD 31896; vol. 4: WWE 1 CD 31897. Munich: Col Legno, 1996
Stockhausen: Kreuzspiel; Kontra-Punkte; Zeitmaße; Adieu. London Sinfonietta, cond. Karlheinz Stockhausen. Kreuzspiel recorded in London, 21 March 1973. LP recording. 12 in. Deutsche Grammophon 2530-443. : Deutsche Grammophon, 1974. Reissued on CD in a different coupling, as Stockhausen: Chöre für Doris; Choral; Drei Lieder; Sonatine; Kreuzspiel. Stockhausen Complete edition CD 1. Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag, 2002.
Passeport pour le XXe siècle: Voyage guidé par Pierre Boulez. Ensemble InterContemporain, conducted by Pierre Boulez. Recorded 1987–88. Ensemble InterContemporain, conducted by Pierre Boulez. L'oeuvre du XXe siècle. Recorded Paris, IRCAM, 1987–1988.. CD recording. Disques Montaigne WM 334 88 518. Paris: Disques Montaigne, 1989. Reissued as Disques Montaigne 780518. The Kreuzspiel excerpt with otherwise different material reissued on disc 3 of D'un siècle à l'autre. 3-CD set. Montaigne/Naïve MO 782096, disc 1: MO 782096-1, disc 2: MO 782096-2, disc 3: MO 782096-3. Paris: Montaigne/Naïve, 2000.
Musik in Deutschland 1950–2000 11, no. 1: "Instrumentale Kammermusik: Moderne Ensembles 1950–1970". Ensemble Avance and Ensemble Modern. CD recording. BMG Ariola 74321 73619 2. : BMG-Ariola, 2005.
