Karlheniz Stockhausen (1928...) is considered to be one of the best-know and most polemical members of the European avant-garde. In his compositions, he has attempted to break away from more tradition notions of form and timbre, and open up new locations for musical and compositional creativity. Although much of his work does rely on acoustic instrumentation, since 1953 his work has made excellent use the electronic medium.
Stockhausen's first electronic compositions, Elektronishe Studie I-II, were exercises in 'total serialism" in which register and time were considered to be coordinates of a uniform musical space. To explore this formulation, Stockhausen appropriated the application of a series of musical values other than pitch already in use by Messiaen. These works involved slow and careful preparation, building the timbre for each note from sinewaves, and then constructing the piece in a series of edits. These pieces were some of the first electronic compositions to be completely notated before hand.
Stockhausen's work was also influenced by the music of Anton Webern. Webern's exploration of comprehensive serialism in the handling of pitch, intensity, register, and touch as independent variables pushed Stockhausen into new directions. Although Stockhausen was extremely appreciative of Webern's impulse, he believe that Webern had ignored to creatively handle time in his serialist approach. Stockhausen attempted to reconcile the dimensions in his Sonata for Two Pianos, Op. I (1950).
Here, Stockhausen begins his search an unified underlying order beyond the dimensions of pitch and time independent of themselves. His notions on this subject are thought to stem for the Swiss architect, Le Corbusier. Le Corbusier posits the a theory of proportion in which the historical and natural evolution of 'beautiful' and 'functional' forms can be related to scale of relationships based on the 'Golden Mean.'
In theory, this 'universal law' of relationship would provide the composer with a series of numerical constants for pitch and time. In application, this would result in an aesthetically and harmonically pleasing composition. Stockhausen explored this theory in hopes of creating a function model with which the composer could progress to new forms of musical creation.
In the mid 1950's, Stockhausen shifts a bit in his approach and begins to work with 'mobile form.' Here the composition is not strictly organized and performance of the piece involves playing sections in different and varying orders. The performance is restricted by the music notated, but form is much freer.,
Stockhausen has played an important role in contemporary methods of compositions and the realization of electronic music. His investigations into the structures of form and the relationships between pitch and time have lent themselves rather well to the electronic medium. He is a theoretician and philosopher, publishing numerous academic essays and musical compositions.
[Reference: THe Works of Karlheinz Stockhausen. Robin Maconie. Oxford University Press. New York: 1976.]