Europa-Gruss

Europa-Gruss (Europe Greeting) is a composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen for wind ensemble with optional synthesizers, and is assigned Number 72 in the composer's catalogue of works.

The idea of composing the Europa-Gruss was first suggested to Stockhausen in August 1991, by the sculptor Helmut Lutz [de] of Breisach.

By the time the score was completed on 21 July 1992, Stockhausen had decided against using it in his opera and changed its title, first to Europa-Hymne, and then to its final, published form.

This version was premiered on 27 July 2002 at the Stockhausen Courses for New Music in Kürten, under the composer’s direction, and recorded shortly afterward by the same performers for release on compact disc.

A sixty-second pause occurs about a third of the way through the work (due to a rest in Eve’s Wednesday segment), where isolated punctual notes and chords recall elements of the preceding section.