Karlheinz Stockhausen; 79; Bold Melder of Note and Noise

Returning to Germany, he studied physics, acoustics and phonetics at the University of Bonn and, in 1953, composed his first work of electronic music. The first responses ranged from rapture to fury, but Mr. Stockhausen found many followers among musicians.

For years, he was in demand as a performer and lecturer. When he taught at the University of California at Davis in 1967, his students included members of the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane and Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention.

His ideas found their way into the works of jazz performers Miles Davis, Cecil Taylor and Charles Mingus. Mr. Stockhausen's 1966 composition "Hymnen," which combined electronic static and shrieks with distorted national anthems, became the inspiration for John Lennon's "Revolution No. 9."

In 1967, Mr. Stockhausen's face appeared on the cover of the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," sandwiched in the back row between Lenny Bruce and W.C. Fields.

Mr. Stockhausen's sometimes tempestuous private life surfaced in his music on occasion, particularly in 1968, when he went on a seven-day hunger strike after his second wife left him.

"During the seven days I had wonderful visions and sound experiences," he later said. "Every so often I would sit down by the piano and play a single note."

He expected musicians who played the resulting composition, "From the Seven Days," to fast beforehand.

His marriages to Doris Andreae and Mary Bauermeister ended in divorce.

In recent years, he lived in K¿rten, Germany, with American saxophonist Suzanne Stephens and Dutch flutist Kathinka Pasveer. Other survivors include four children from his first marriage; two children from his second marriage; and at least 16 grandchildren.