Who is Karlheinz Stockhausen

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A.� Karlheinz Stockhausen is credited with being one of the most original composers in the western world, as well as being one of its most controversial, egotistical, and some say, most difficult to listen to!

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Q.� Not someone to play while you're doing the housework then

A.� Probably not. Stockhausen's work is a celebration of new music, and he has spent a lifetime pushing accepted boundaries of composition and performance as far as he possible can. Ever controversial, Stockhausen's planned four concerts in Hamburg last month were immediately cancelled, following his observations on the tragedy�of 11 September.

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Q.� What did he say that provoked such a reaction

A.� Stockhausen advised that '... rehearsing ... for ten years, then dying was the greatest work of art there is in the entire cosmos'. It later emerged that Stockhausen was misunderstood, wishing to imply that it was a work of art 'by Lucifer', but his knack of creating outrage remains undiminished, even at the age of 73.

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Q.� Does his work provoke equally strong responses

A.� It frequently does, and the world of music is sharply divided about Stockhausen's ability, and the validity of his work as a composer, although his influence is felt through a wide variety of musical styles. Holger Czukay, founder member of German electronic pioneers Can attended Stockhausen's academic lectures, as did members of 60s alternative bands The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, and The Mothers Of Invention. He was considered iconic enough to be included on the photo collage that makes up The Beatles' Sergeant Pepper album sleeve, but it is for classical and avant-garde music that Stockhausen is best known.��

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Q.� What sort of music does he make

A.� To say 'untypical' would be to sum up the working methods of Stockhausen. It was the earliest days of electronic music that found a basis for Stockhausen's skills; his 1956 piece Gesang der Junglinge featured one of the very first tape loops ever made. Having travelled to America, and absorbed further influence from one of the most famous avant-garde composers, John Cage, he wrote Zyklus, which featured a score written on spiral notebook pages, enabling the beginning and end of the piece to be varied, following a cyclical pattern as the performance progressed.

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Q.� But is he any good as a musician or composer

A.� That depends on the result you are seeking. If your aim, as is Stockhausen's, is to eventually eliminate all standard forms of notation and structure, and allow musicians to create each piece of music as a unique performance, then he is brilliant. If however, you expect standard forms of rhythm and melody, then Stockhausen's work can be seen as the formless ramblings of a charlatan, taking the gullibility of classical supporters to new heights, or depths. Opinion is sufficiently divided to enable you to find strongly argued points of view from both ends of the cultural divide.

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Q.� What is Stockhausen doing now

A.� Even at an age when most artists would be considering at least slowing down their work and performance rate, Stockhausen continues to perform�- his recent concerts at the Barbican in London went ahead. Stockhausen's writing continues to escalate in terms of scale and length�- since 1977 he has been is working on a cycle of seven operas entitled Licht (Light) due to be performed simultaneously in seven opera houses. Completion is expected in 2004.

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By� Andy Hughes