Klavierstück XII (Examen) (from the opera \"Donnerstag\"), for piano (1978-1979)
Bernhard Wambach, piano
Karlheinz Stockhausen's Klavierstück XII (1978 - 79) is an extract from Act I of Donnerstag (Thursday), the first of the operas completed as part of the composer's monumental cycle-in-progress Licht. Klavierstück XII, also known as Examen (Michael's Examination), depicts the main character's tests in music for entry into the \"High School for Music.\" The pianist serves as accompanist to Michael as singer, as dancer, and as trumpeter (the trumpet is the Michael archetype's characteristic instrument.)
Klavierstück XII, written fifteen years after Stockhausen's previous works for the piano--Klavierstücke IX and X (1961) and Klavierstück XI (1956)--is significantly different from these earlier works. Scales and other kinds of stylized passages dominate the texture, seemingly forming a commentary on the nature of musical training (echoing, for example, the character of piano etudes). At sporadic intervals, the pianist actually reaches into the instrument and plucks the strings. [allmusic.com]