How he has transmuted this work into something so romantic, evocative, organic, relatable and fluid is beyond me.  On the other hand, the original work was created, as per the constraints of the chosen instrument, totally within the confines of the traditional 12 tones, and could therefore be seen as indicative of a side of Stockhausen not commonly acknowledged. 

It seems he may have been capable of a form of uneasy serialist modern classical comparable to Berg or Messiaen, in which fragments of scales and tonalities are sewn strangely together in a dense, emotionally restless patchwork which rarely stays in one place for long and never resolves predictably, yet retains some basic melodious beauty, and stands as a natural extention and distillation of the works of Debussy or Mahler a century previous.

This is an intensely cerebral and intelligent record, with Stockhausen's 'tone rows' functioning as the oddest of head melodies, guiding Bruno's multifaceted, expressive and diverse extrapolations.  Heinen draws an entire world of feelings out of the tonal sequences, ensures that there is never an emotive opportunity missed.  Indeed, he makes what could have been merely 'stimulating' is warm and inviting.

Heinen runs the gamut between so many emotions, from echoes of the sultry, romantic night life conjured up by classic jazz to the brooding solitary alienation of 20th century avant garde classical composers, to the naked, eerie and fragile sound of the music box, which plays on its own at the beginning and end of the album, in a poetic gesture.

Every musician's performance is both technically virtuosic and beautiful, candid and expressive.  Each horn player's tone is liquid and sonorous, and the drummer (also in the similarly virtuosic and excellent band Dice Factory) has a breathtakingly natural grasp of how to infuse odd meters with groove.  The players know when to duck back and let another shine, as well, and the most obviously impromptu moments of the record tend to be plaintive solos that function as soliloquys.

It's difficult to say where composition ends and improvisation begins, as many of the unison lines, complex harmonizations, odd meters and lush, detailed chord progressions could not have been improvisation, and yet these are strongly jazz flavored, and Stockhausen is only credited with the initial tone rows, as far as I can tell.  Heinen has somehow created fully formed jazz compositions which blossom spectacularly in Stockhausen's unlikely framework, truly symbiotic with the source material.  Wrapping one's mind around what is going on in this music, or indeed what kind of music it is, is quite the exquisite difficulty, however it is certainly quite worth it.

Ultimately what we have is one of the most ambitious recordings I've ever come across, and it is a masterful success at every turn.  An entire world of musical history is contained in the studied, luminously melodic sound found here.  Fans of jazz should find plenty to dig into, while adventurous classical listeners will recognize just as many hints of their favorite composers.  This album satisfies both emotionally and mentally, and it's been on repeat in my car for multiple weeks now.  To restate another reviewer, don't let the 'S' word scare you.  This is the sort of true craftsmanship and dedication in music that all of us crave.  Do yourself a favor and listen to "Tierkreis" many times.