BERLIN — Karlheinz Stockhausen, one of the most important and controversial postwar composers who helped shape a new understanding of sound through electronic compositions, died at his home in western Germany. He was 79.

Stockhausen, who gained fame through his avant-garde works in the 1960s and '70s, died Wednesday, his publisher, the Stockhausen Verlag, said.

Rock and pop musicians such as John Lennon, Frank Zappa and David Bowie have cited him as an influence.

The Beatles asked for permission to use his photo on the cover of the 1967 album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." He appears fifth from the left in the back row.

By The Associated Press