Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Aus den Sieben Tagen is a large composition of fifteen pieces. Rarely played, it asks the performers to improvise under rigid written direction from the composer. Supposedly the direction for the last section reads “Play, you do not need me anymore, everything you will do from now on will be right and good.” It is music that Stockhausen described as being from the performer’s intuition rather than his intellect. Certainly, it is an unusual piece even from a seminal 20th century composer who remained ahead of his time.

Le Car de Thon is a large contemporary music ensemble from Switzerland and is exactly the type of artists that would take on a monumental work like this. They have been playing and recording the fifteen pieces for quite a while and collected their four favorite performances, mostly from a concert in 2008, on this free and legal album Nos Meillurs Stockhausen from the Insubordination netlabel. I listened to this album from beginning to end in one sitting and to say it is mind altering is an understatement. It is truly a masterpiece of contemporary music and my only regret is that the do not have the other eleven pieces of music from this work to listen to. This is one of the best online albums of contemporary music on the internet.

The album is available in 320kbps MP3.

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