Helikopter Streichquartett · 1996

Helicopter String Quartet

Frank Scheffer · 81 min · Netherlands

One morning, the late Karlheinz Stockhausen awoke from a dream that told him to take to the sky. Stockhausen envisioned four helicopters swirling in the clouds, with each of a quartet’s members tucked inside his own chopper, communicating through headsets, stringing away in sync to the rotor-blade motors. He immediately set forth to make that dream a reality. In 1995, Dutch film director Scheffer followed Stockhausen in the days leading up to the premiere performance of his Helicopter String Quartet in Amsterdam. The resulting film offers a rare glimpse of Stockhausen as he patiently dictates every agonizingly detailed measure to the Arditti Quartet.

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Production companies

Allegri Film

Locations

• Exact location
• Approximate: the city or region
• Filming
• Setting

Locations catalogued on Wikidata. Where only the city or region is known, the dot marks its centre, not the exact filming spot.

Setting

Ámsterdam

Location data: Wikidata · Map © OpenStreetMap contributors

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Cast

• 

  Karlheinz Stockhausen

  Himself

• Irvine Arditti

  Self

• Graeme Jennings

  Self

• Garth Knox

  Self

• Rohan de Saram

  Self