*2022 Stock.* Karlheinz Stockhausen – “Musik im Bauch (Music in the Belly) ” is a piece of scenic music for six percussionists and music boxes composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen in 1975. "The origin of “Musik im Bauch” and “Tierkreis”, as far as can be traced, goes back to 1967, when Stockhausen’s daughter Julika was around two years old. Stockhausen explains that all kinds of minute sounds were coming from the little girl’s insides, and Stockhausen joked with her and said: “Julika, you really have music in your belly!” The startled little girl looked up in amazement at the thought, finding it so hilarious that she burst into an escalating fit of laughter, which wouldn’t stop, almost choking her with shattering laughter, finally worrying the concerned father so much that he crawled to her on the floor, trying to calm her, and when that didn’t succeed he tried to break the fit by yelling her name out loud. After Stockhausen carried his daughter to her room did she finally recede from her fit of comic realization, while she kept repeating, between sobs and giggles; “Music… in… the… belly!” 

Seven years after the incident with his daughter Julika, Stockhausen woke up from a dream about “Musik im Bauch”, i.e. a dreamed performance of the dreamed piece, which he jotted down. He explains, though, that many details occurred only after he started to compose, after he had written down the initial notes on the dream.  In the dream three music boxes had been found inside the belly of a birdman, and to further his knowledge about the possibilities of music boxes Stockhausen looked around for expertise, finding it in the Jean Reuge music box factory in Sainte Croix in Switzerland. (He had previous good experience of instrument makers from Switzerland through his dealings with the Paiste Company, which built him his tam-tam for “Momente”!). He studied the possibilities and limitations of music box composition for a week, and in the process he also discovered that no compositions especially made for music boxes were in existence, but that only arranged fragments of already existing melodies were being adapted for music boxes." (Excerpt from Ingvar Nordin / Sonoloco extensive review)