Helicopter String Quartet

Story

Synopsis

One morning, the late Karlheinz Stockhausen awoke from a dream that told him to take to the sky. Stockhausen envisioned four helicopters swirling in the clouds, with each of a quartet’s members tucked inside his own chopper, communicating through headsets, stringing away in sync to the rotor-blade motors. He immediately set forth to make that dream a reality. In 1995, Dutch film director Scheffer followed Stockhausen in the days leading up to the premiere performance of his Helicopter String Quartet in Amsterdam. The resulting film offers a rare glimpse of Stockhausen as he patiently dictates every agonizingly detailed measure to the Arditti Quartet.

Director

Frank Scheffer

Writers

Karlheinz Stockhausen, Frank Scheffer

Language

German

Country

Netherlands

Release date

17 October 1996

Ensemble

Cast

• 

  Karlheinz Stockhausen

  Himself

• Irvine Arditti

  Self

• Graeme Jennings

  Self

• Garth Knox

  Self

• Rohan de Saram

  Self