Hello esteemed Stockhausen forum member!
One of my main interests in Stockhausen's music has been his conception of time (and space). It seems evident in nearly all his work. Of course music only exists in time and space for the duration that the sound is in the air. Stockhausen's compositions have explored the cycles of the Western calendar in a way that no other composer I know of has. Perhaps I'm optimistic, but in doing so I think he has helped begin a movement towards restoring truly "seasonal" music to us.
I know in Indian classical music, between the 11th and 13th centuries, music scholars and practitioners started to associate certain types of ragas with the various seasons in India, and later with different times of the day (certain ones being better for morning, afternoon, evening, midnight...)
In Stockhausen's work we see this fascination with time and cycles in Zyklus, in Stimmung where he began singing the days of the week, in Sirius and Tierkreis and the way these can be performed by starting on the appropriate zodiac sign/month when it is being performed. Then of course the great depth he brought to exploring the themes of each day of the week in LICHT, and then the hours of a day in KLANG.
Perhaps in Western music we would need to look to the church Catholic or Orthodox with its liturgical calendar and the way various hymns & plainsong were used in religious orders to see something similar? I'm no music historian, so maybe there are other precedents that are obvious that I'd be missing? More recently I can also think of La Monte Young's work and the way it is an "eternal music" of long durations and sustained tones, and chords that exist in clusters.
Still, this is one of the great areas Stockhausen has enriched my life with through his music, and with such beauty. Pairing that with his spatial conceptions and innovations in music and it is truly space/time music!
Within all of these works, also, there are also hints at other cycles. The transition into death accompanied by Kathinka's Gesang, is one example.
Therefore I propose this new thread devoted to Stockhausen's conception of time and people's experience and thoughts on that matter, and how that relates to the wider musical culture, the above being just the barest overview or sketch. How might a more spiritual approach to seasonal music free us from the oleaginous seasonal music of pop culture (it's Christmas time after all, with the sounds of Santa inspired shopping songs filling the air). Wishing all the best to all!