Freedom in music on the example of the works of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis

In her article titled Niebezpieczne związki, czyli o granicach wolności w sztuce i w życiu [Dangerous liaisons, or on the limits of freedom in art and life] Elżbieta Korolczuk (2013) claimsthat ‘the sense of personal freedom and independence from other people – not only in the senseof intellectual and aesthetic influences, but also familial and emotional ties – is often perceived asnecessary in order to create new, original works, to be a truly creative individual’. It is not difficult to find new and original works in the oeuvre of Karlheinz Stockhausen and Iannis Xenakis and,paraphrasing the words of Maria Anna Potocka (2013) – it is thanks to them that ‘the world has moderniseditself and freed itself from outdated values’. In relation to creative work in music, this ‘senseof personal freedom and independence from other people‘ leads, on the one hand, to the ‘freedom ofmusic’ and, on the other, ensures achieving ‘freedom in music’. The aim of this discussion is to pointto those threads in the statements of Stockhausen and Xenakis, and those features of their works,which testify to the specific manifestations of the ‚‘freedom in music’ created by them.