Helicopter String Quartet

Musical documentary about the extraordinary composition Helicopter-Streichquartett by Karlheinz Stockhausen. This music-theatre work had its world première during the 1995 Holland Festival. The four musicians of the renowned Arditti String Quartet each went up in a helicopter with a transmitter. Pictures and sound were sent to the auditorium where Stockhuizen mixed the sounds of helicopters and string players. Frank Scheffer filmed the spectacle and juxtaposed pictures from the show with fragments of interviews with Stockhausen and shots of the preparations and rehearsals.