 I have never subscribed ( whatever the inevitable personal distance ) to the thesis according to which the many transformations of vocabulary characterizing Stockhausen 's development are the obvious sign of his inability to carry out the early vision of strict order that he had in his youth . On the contrary , it seems to me that the constant reconsideration of his premises has led to the maintenance of a remarkably tough thread of historical consciousness which will become clearer with time . . . . I doubt that there has been a single composer of the intervening generation who , even if for a short time , did not see the world of music differently thanks to the work of Stockhausen . ( Ferneyhough 1988 ) 
