A scenic solo work for a percussionist who, like a secret code, drums on a huge 12-piece wooden door until it opens.
Himmels-Tür is one of the most interesting and significant compositions by the legendary composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. It is a scenic solo work for a percussionist who like a secret code, drums on a huge 12-piece wooden door until it opens.
In interviews, Stockhausen impressively describes a dream in which a percussionist stands in front of the door to heaven and tries to get in by any means necessary. Stockhausen soon devoted himself to building a door that could produce the desired variety of sounds. The result was a large double door consisting of 12 different sound fields and a total of 6 different types of wood. To play the lower fields, the percussionist kneels or lies on his side. In order to reach the uppermost fields, he sometimes jumps into the air.
Over the course of the approximately half-hour work, the performer moves through 14 different states of mind, intensifying his cipher-like playing until the door finally opens. The performer strides through the door, shortly afterwards a glistening, metallic swan song sounds from the off. After a while, a little girl appears and follows him behind the door. Loud sirens end the piece.
For the performance of Himmels-Tür at the Überschlag Festival, we are honoured to welcome Stuart Gerber, the performer of the world premiere. As the only percussionist in the world to have worked on the piece together with Karlheinz Stockhausen, he is coming to Hannover from Atlanta especially for us! In addition, we have been able to secure the only existing Himmelstür in Europe from the Stockhausen Gesellschaft Kürten. In the Black Hall of the Eisfabrik, we have found a space which, in its unity, offers no other way out than through the Himmelstür.
Lineup
Stuart Gerber performance and percussion
With the kind support of the Stockhausen Foundation for Music Kürten