No intimacy, no comparison;
My heart is the young man's helper.
Aus den Sieben Tagen
Karlheinz Stockhausen is a good example of a composer who sees himself as a kind of mystical priest. His work contains symbols from humanity's life book. He greedily seeks out the sounds and experiences that may open the doors of the great mysteries for his audiences. My first encounter with his music frightened me. In the late sixties, Stockhausen conceived of a piece which work on the assumption that humans have the ability to communicate telepathically with each other while performing in an altered state caused by ritual. The piece, Aus den Sieben Tagen, required each performer to fast for three days while thinking as little as possible. Our community of improvisation devotees (Euphonius Monks) was particularly attracted to this piece. Seven of us accepted the challenge and performed Aus den Sieben Tagen at the Electra-Air Building in Deep Ellum, Dallas, Texas. The movements were arranged according to the Tsan for each day they piece was perform. It was performed in seven days. The pieces and their corresponding Tsan are as follows: