Gruppen 1955-57 / Carre 1959-60 Poem by Daniel Brick

I

These two works come to me
as siblings, both friendly,
open-hearted, proud of their
heritage as early works by Stockhausen.

The older brother, GRUPPEN, stunned me
the first time its soundscape enveloped me.
My ears lost their grip on the sounds
as music again and again, but those same
alien sounds became the threshold for Music
of our Age. Had I not gripped my chair
while listening, I might have floated
into the air holding these sounds, and
joined the composer in fantasy of flight.
And toward the end, sound became tactile
reality, as a malleable chord rushed
through each orchestra in succession
and bound all sounds into one vast Unity.

II

CARRE, the younger sister, spreads
her charm over our listening minds.
She is the tender one who harbors
the simplest answer to our most
fervent question. She dispels doubt
in a flash of her luminous eyes.
I must be quiet within, fully composed
to be admitted into her presence'
She is pure being: she chooses to dwell
in our company as Music and Spirit.
Sometimes she is manifest only as
a tendril of spiritual desire, growing out
of the experience of Music. Other times
she is the source of many voices seeking
a harmony of sound and sense. It is
a movement not just through Time
but around it, above and below it,
becoming a whirligig of moments,
ever transforming itself into -
The Eternal Moment.