 Robin Maconie finds that , " Compared to the work of his contemporaries , Stockhausen 's music has a depth and rational integrity that is quite outstanding ... His researches , initially guided by Meyer @-@ Eppler , have a coherence unlike any other composer then or since " ( Maconie 1989 , 177 – 78 ) . Maconie also compares Stockhausen to Beethoven : " If a genius is someone whose ideas survive all attempts at explanation , then by that definition Stockhausen is the nearest thing to Beethoven this century has produced . Reason ? His music lasts " ( Maconie 1988 ) , and " As Stravinsky said , one never thinks of Beethoven as a superb orchestrator because the quality of invention transcends mere craftsmanship . It is the same with Stockhausen : the intensity of imagination gives rise to musical impressions of an elemental and seemingly unfathomable beauty , arising from necessity rather than conscious design " ( Maconie 1989 , 178 ) . 
