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Karlheinz Stockhausen was a pioneer of electronic music – and a superhero. This is shown by the new graphic novel “Stockhausen. The Man Who Came from Sirius» by Thomas von Steinaecker and David von Bassewitz.
Karlheinz Stockhausen never liked looking back. No wonder, because the music revolutionary did not have a happy childhood. Among other things, this is what the new comic biography by Thomas von Steinaecker and David von Bassewitz tells about.
Stockhausen’s mother ends up in a mental institution and is murdered by the Nazis. His father joins the Nazi Party and dies in World War II. At 17, Karlheinz Stockhausen is an orphan. From now on his home is the (musical) future – and the universe. The composer once claimed that he actually came from Sirius and not from Earth.
Legend:
David von Bassewitz illustrates the story of Karlheinz Stockhausen in rough brushstrokes. In the picture: Author Thomas von Steinaecker as a 12-year-old boy.
Carlsen Verlag GmbH, Hamburg 2022
Longtime friendship
The author and filmmaker Thomas von Steinaecker knew the people behind the myth. At the age of 12 he was given a record of Stockhausen’s “Gesang der Jünglinge”. At first he laughs at Stockhausen’s music, but soon he becomes a fan.
Later attends one of his concerts, meets Stockhausen, and an initial conversation eventually turns into friendship – until the composer’s death in 2007. Von Steinaecker produces a film about Stockhausen, a radio feature, and writes articles.
But the medium of graphic novels offers completely new possibilities for storytelling, says the author: “Somehow Stockhausen is also a superhero. Anyway, he’s somewhere between a normal person and an icon.” And to show the construct of this Stockhausen picture, the comic medium is ideally suited.
Legend:
Stockhausen’s scores were the inspiration for the painterly interpretation of the comic.
Carlsen Verlag GmbH, Hamburg 2022
Stockhausen as a graphic artist
In «Stockhausen. The Man Who Came from Sirius we travel back to Stockhausen’s childhood and youth during World War II. We experience him as a family man, experimenting with composition and always feeling his quarrels with himself, his music and the world. But Thomas von Steinaecker also talks about their friendship and himself.
The artist David von Bassewitz created the images for this. He was particularly impressed by the aesthetics of the scores: “Karlheinz Stockhausen – a great graphic artist. His scores are beautiful typographies. I could take that well.” In addition, he repeatedly listened to Stockhausen’s music and made notes and sketches at the same time.
Complex music in simple pictures
Speaking of Stockhausen’s music: he composed serial music, aleatoric music, moment music, electroacoustic music and process composition. You can lose track of things there.
But the medium of comics can also convey such complex things in a vivid way, Thomas von Steinaecker believes: “The fact that something supposedly difficult is presented in the supposedly simple, popular, easily accessible medium makes it easier for many to access. Because it’s so unexpected.”
Legend:
The young Thomas von Steinaecker (pictured above) despairs of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s music.
Carlsen Verlag GmbH, Hamburg 2022
According to von Steinaecker, her comic biography is not aimed at new music nerds. Because it not only tells a story about new music, but a story about the human fate of someone who lost everything as a child. “Stockhausen recreated himself as a kind of superhero and he had the courage to break new ground.”
So this graphic novel is more than a biography in pictures: it is an invitation to all of us to be brave and try new things.