At the 1970 Osaka World Fair Stockhausen realized a dream of a spherical auditorium in which by means of a manual rotating potentiometer or 'sound mill' he was able to make sounds spiral upwards and downwards. For Sirius 1975-77 a motorized rotation table capable of very high speed revolutions was employed to simulate the sound of a quartet of arriving and departing flying saucers. In every case the audience is surrounded by the rotation, and the rotation process itself is associated with the idea of being transported to another world, a world of make-believe. Helikopter-Streichquartett is one more in a long line of such processes. Four helicopters, four flying saucers in Sirius, four channels in Kontakte.
Helicopters are a genial idea for a host of reasons.
They come ready-made, like objects chosen by Marcel Duchamp. They are actual transportation. A musician can actually ride in such a machine. They produce a sound more powerful than any synthesizer, with a deeper bass. And they actually fly.