Kathinka Pasveer

Kathinka Pasveer was born in Zaandam, North Holland, the daughter of a conductor who also taught at the Amsterdam Conservatory (Jacobsen 1992, 12). She studied with Frans Vester at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, where she received her performer's diploma, with the distinction of the Nicolai Prize in 1983. During her final year of studies she was the principal flutist of the Gewestelijk Orkest Zuid-Holland (Daoust 2009a, 6).

In December 1982 Karlheinz Stockhausen was invited to the Royal Conservatory for a series of concerts, master classes, and lectures, at which time Pasveer worked with the composer and with Suzanne Stephens on his compositions Zeitmaße, Amour, and In Freundschaft. Stockhausen invited her to work with him on a new work for flute and six percussionists, which was composed in February and March 1983 and premiered at the Donaueschinger Musiktage in October 1983. It took six months of rehearsals to prepare this work for performance. This was Kathinkas Gesang, the second scene of the opera Samstag aus Licht, which she also performed at the staged premiere of Samstag at La Scala in Milan in May 1984 (Beaucage 2005, 20; Yáñez 2008). The next year, Stockhausen made a new version of the piece, for flute and six-channel electronic music, and Pasveer likewise gave its premiere at Ircam in Paris in May 1985 (Daoust 2009b, 14). As a result of this initial contact Stockhausen began featuring the flute in the Licht cycle (Breault 2005, 60). She worked with Stockhausen for twenty-five years, up until his death in December 2007. He composed many works especially for her, all of which she premiered, and many of which are dedicated to her. These included parts in the operas Montag aus Licht (La Scala 1988), Dienstag aus Licht (Leipzig Opera 1993), and Freitag aus Licht (Leipzig Opera 1996), as well as the concert premieres of Orchester-Finalisten (Carré, Amsterdam, 1996), Michaelion from Mittwoch aus Licht (Prinzregententheater, Munich, 1998), and Kathinka performed as one of the 4 soloists in the world première of Licht-Bilder (third scene of Sonntag aus Licht (Donaueschingen, 16 October 2004). After Licht, Stockhausen composed for her the flute version of Harmonien (2006, premiered 13 July 2007 at the Sülztalhalle in Kürten) and Paradies (2007, premiered on 24 August 2009 at the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg), components of the chamber-music cycle Klang.

In addition to her activities as a flautist, in 1989 she learned the solo dancer-mime part for Stockhausen's Inori, which she performed for the first time on 27 May 1989 in the Kölner Philharmonie, with the Gürzenich Orchestra conducted by the composer. When pressed to name a favourite from all of Stockhausen's compositions, Pasveer named Inori as a "very special" piece that she privately "performs" almost every day, "as it is my form of meditation" (Yáñez 2008). She also performs from memory the 83-minute-long Vortrag über HU (a sung and mimed lecture introducing Inori), in both German and English, and has made video recordings of both versions. She also performs the dancer-mime part in Vision (act 3 scene 2 of Donnerstag aus Licht). Pasveer also has recorded as a soprano singer in a number of Stockhausen's works, including the electronic music for both Dienstag aus Licht (Oktophonie) and Freitag aus Licht, as well as Die sieben Lieder der Tage (extracted from "Montag"), Zwei Paare (made as soundtrack music for the 2000 short film In Absentia by the Quay Brothers), and Urantia (the Nineteenth Hour from Klang).

From 1998 up to the present time, Pasveer has taught the interpretation of Stockhausen's works at the Stockhausen Courses for New Music held each summer in Kürten (Breault 2005, 60). Beginning in 1983, she assisted Stockhausen in the production of recordings and learned from him the techniques of sound projection used in most of his works. Since the composer’s death, she has acted as sound projectionist in many live performances, and has produced and mixed down all the recordings in the Stockhausen Complete Edition. Stockhausen also entrusted her, together with Antonio Pérez-Abellán, with the production of the sound loops in the 24 individual layers of his electronic work Cosmic Pulses in 2006.

Together with Suzanne Stephens, she is in charge of Stockhausen's legacy as a director of the Stockhausen Foundation for Music (Yáñez 2008).

• 1985. Kathinkas Gesang de Karlheinz Stockhausen. Colour film, 33'21". French. Paris: I.R.C.A.M.
• 1998. Stockhausen, Vortrag über HU (German version). Colour film by Suzanne Stephens. 83 minutes. Live recording of the first integral performance in German with Kathinka Pasveer on 5 April 1998, at the Audimax of the Technical College in Darmstadt. (Archive No. 107 / 1). Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag
• 1998. INORI für 2 Solisten und Tonband. Colour film by Suzanne Stephens. 73 minutes. Live recording of a performance of INORI on 5 April 1998 at the Audimax of the Technical College in Darmstadt, with Kathinka Pasveer and Alain Louafi (dancer-mimes). Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag.
• 1998. Stockhausen, Michaelion, scene 4 from Mittwoch aus Licht. Colour film by Suzanne Stephens. 59 minutes. (Archive No. 109 / 1). Live recording of the world première on July 26, 1998 in Munich at the Prinzregenten Theatre with the choir of the South German Radio (conductor: Rupert Huber), Michael Vetter (short-wave singer), Kathinka Pasveer (flute), Suzanne Stephens (basset-horn), Marco Blaauw (trumpet), and Andrew Digby (trombone). Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag.
• 2003. Stockhausen, Lecture on HU. Colour film by Suzanne Stephens. 83 minutes. Live recording of the integral performance in English with Kathinka Pasveer on August 17, 2003 at the Sülztalhalle in Kürten during the Stockhausen Courses Kürten 2003. (Archive No. 149 / 2). Kürten: Stockhausen-Verlag.

• Beaucage, Réjean. 2005. "Contact with Stockhausen / Contact avec Stockhausen". La Scena Musicale 11, no. 3 (November): 18–25.
• Breault, Marie-Hélène. 2005. "Le Chant de Kathinka de Karlheinz Stockhausen". La Scena Musicale 11, no. 2 (October), 58–60.
• Daoust, Lise. 2009a. "Stockhausen et la flûte: une association ébloussante". Traversières Magazine, no. 95 (Troisième trimestre): 5–8.
• Daoust, Lise. 2009b. "Kathinkas Gesang als Luzifers Requiem (1983)". Traversières Magazine, no. 95 (Troisième trimestre): 14–15.
• Jacobsen, Rüdiger. 1992. "Portrait: Kathinkas Gesang". Flöte Aktuell 4/92:12–13.
• Yáñez, Paco. 2008. "La música de Stockhausen ha sido siempre algo mágico: Entrevista con Kathinka Pasveer". Mundoclasico.com (19 March).

• Abbé, Chloe l'. 2009. "Ave, pour cor de basset et flûte". Traversières Magazine, no. 95 (Troisième trimestre): 15–18.
• Bledsoe, Helen. 2011. "In Media [sic] Res (Into the Middle of Things): Kathinka Pasveer, Stockhausen’s Muse". Flute 30 no. 1 (March): 21–25.
• BPI (VK). 2009. "Stockhausen, Karlheinz". Lexikon der Flöte: Flöteninstrumente und ihre Baugeschichte—Spielpraxis—Komponisten und ihre Werke—Interpreten, edited by András Adorján and Lenz Meierott, 753–55. Laaber: Laaber-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-89007-545-7.
• Déraspe, Geneviève. 2009. "Der Kinderfänger". Traversières Magazine, no. 95 (Troisième trimestre): 11–13.
• Duval, François. 2009. "Ave, pour cor de basset et flûte tiré de Montag". Traversières Magazine, no. 95 (Troisième trimestre): 19–20.
• Rondeau, Marie-Hélène. 2009. "Freia". Traversières Magazine, no. 95 (Troisième trimestre): 8–10.

• Anon. 1993. "Recent Recordings: Stockhausen 35". Flute Talk 13 (November): 20.
• Frisius, Rudolf. 1986. "Schallplatten: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Flötenkonzert G-Dur, KV 313 (Kadenzen: Karlheinz Stockhausen); Joseph Haydn: Trompetenkonzert Es-Dur (Kadenzen: Karlheinz Stockhausen); Karlheinz Stockhausen, Oberlippentanz für Trompete solo. Kathinka Pasveer, Flöte, Markus Stockhausen, Trompete, Radio-Symphobie-Orchester Berlin, Dirigent: Katlheinz Stockhausen. Acanta 40.23 543 DT". Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 147, no. 11 (November): 66–67.
• Hodges, Nicolas. 1993. "Reviews: CDs—Flute Music: In Freundschaft, Piccolo, Amour, Susanis Echo, Xi, Zungenspitzentanz, Flautina, Ypsilon, Kathinkas Gesang." The Musical Times 134 (March): 155.
• Nordin, Ingvar Loco. n.d. "Stockhausen Edition no. 28 (9 works for flute, piccolo & alto flute)". Sonoloco Record Reviews.
• Watkins, Glenn. 2003. "Music of the European Avant-Garde: Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Samstag aus Licht: A Contemporary Report". In The Wind Band and Its Repertoire: Two Decades of Research as Published in the College Band Directors National Association Journal, edited by Michael Votta, 171–73. The Donald Hunsberger Wind Library. Miami: Warner Brothers/Alfred Music Publishing. ISBN 0-7579-1833-6.