Stuart Gerber - Himmels-Tür | ÜBERSCHLAG FESTIVAL

A scenic solo work for a percussionist who, like a secret code, drums on a huge 12-panel wooden door until it opens.

Himmels-Tür is one of the most interesting and pointed compositions by the legendary composer Karlheinz Stockhausen: a scenic solo work for a percussionist who, like a secret code, drums on a huge 12-piece wooden door until it opens.

In interviews, Stockhausen impressively described a dream in which a percussionist stands in front of the door to heaven and tries to get in by any means necessary. He then devoted himself to building a door that could produce the desired variety of sounds. The result was a large double door consisting of 12 different sound fields and a total of 6 different types of wood. To play the lower sections, the drummer kneels or lies on his side. In order to reach the uppermost fields, he sometimes jumps into the air. Over the course of the approximately half-hour work, the player moves through 14 different states of mind, intensifying his cipher-like playing until the door finally opens ...

For the performance of Himmels-Tür at the Überschlag Festival, we were able to win Stuart Gerber, the performer of the world premiere. The only percussionist in the world to have worked on the piece together with the composer will come to Hanover from Atlanta especially for us and play on the only existing Himmels-Tür in Europe, which we were able to borrow from the Stockhausen Gesellschaft Kürten.

We have found the ideal space in the Black Hall of the Eisfabrik, as its closed nature means that the only way is through the Himmelstür.

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Cast

Stuart Gerber performance and percussion

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With the kind support of the Stockhausen Foundation for Music Kürten