Kreuzspiel, Nr. 1/7

Stockhausen regarded Kreuzspiel as his first original composition, as opposed to the style-imitation exercises he did as part of his music studies (Stockhausen 1989, 34, 55). According to the composer, it was influenced by Olivier Messiaen's "Mode de valeurs et d'intensités" (1949) and Karel Goeyvaerts's Sonata for Two Pianos (1950), and is one of the earliest examples of "point" music. Kreuzspiel was premièred at the Darmstädter Internationale Ferienkurse in the summer of 1952, conducted by the composer. According to Stockhausen, the performance "ended in a scandal" (Stockhausen 1964, 11).