Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007). German composer
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer who worked prolifically with electronic music, in serial composition, using unorthodox staging and spatial arrangements of ensembles. After studying musicology, philosophy and German studies at the University of Cologne, he began working with Oliver Messiaen and began a career as a composer. His works are some of the most controversial in the Western canon, with his vision of sound possibilities (the idea that all noise can be music) and electronics causing disruption to the idea that music should be beautiful and enjoyable. He began the composition of a cycle of seven operas between 1977 and 2003.