| Hymnen | |
|---|---|
| Electronic and concrete music by Karlheinz Stockhausen | |
 Hymnen with soloists (Aloys Kontarsky, piano; Péter Eötvös, electrochord; Christoph Caskel, tam-tam; Harald Bojé, electronium), Shiraz Arts Festival, 3 September 1972 | |
| Catalogue | 22 |
| Based on | National anthems |
| Composed | 1966–67, revised 1969 |
| Dedication | |
| Performed | 30 November 1967 |
| Movements | 4 Regions |
| Scoring | Three versions |
Hymnen (German for "Anthems") is an electronic and concrete work, with optional live performers, by Karlheinz Stockhausen, composed in 1966–67, and elaborated in 1969. In the composer's catalog of works, it is No. 22.
The extended work is based on national anthems. It is structured in four Regions: Region I is dedicated to Pierre Boulez and uses "The Internationale" and "La Marseillaise", Region II is dedicated to Henri Pousseur and uses the "Deutschlandlied", a group of African anthems, the beginning of the Russian anthem, and a fragment of the "Horst-Wessel-Lied", Region III is dedicated to John Cage and uses the continuation of the Russian anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, and the "Marcha Real", Region IV is dedicated to Luciano Berio and uses the "Swiss Psalm". Stockhausen wrote three versions, one for electronic and concrete music alone, one for electronic and concrete music with soloists, and finally an orchestral version of Region III, which can be performed by itself, or together with either the first or second version of the other three regions.
Hymnen was first performed in collaboration with the Electronic Music Studio of the broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) in Cologne, in a version with soloists on 30 November 1967. The orchestral version was written for Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic. It was first performed by the orchestra conducted by Stockhausen in New York City on 25 February 1971, together with the American premiere of the other Regions in the version with soloists, taking three hours. A second performance of this version was performed at Yale University on 29 April 1972 in an outdoor performance with a scenario of flag designs real and projected.