Helmut Kirchmeyer: Stockhausens Elektronische Messe nebst einem Vorspann unveröffentlichter Briefe aus seiner Pariser Zeit an Herbert Eimert

The first part of the essay consists of heretofore unpublished letters Karlheinz Stockhausen sent from Paris to his mentor Herbert Eimert in Cologne in 1952. They shed light on musique concrète’s period of inception and on initial electro-acoustic experiments and describe the leading composers in Paris at that time through the comparative lens of the situation in France and Germany. The essay then turns to the speculations for the reason why Stockhausen never composed an electronic mass—mainly, that the General Vicariate of the Archdiocese of Cologne refused his request for a church as the venue for the first performance. This study proves that such a request was never made and that, on the contrary, the Catholic Church used its influence on the broadcasting council to support Eimert’s efforts to keep the Studio for Electronic Music in Cologne.

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