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275px, Karlheinz Stockhausens grave with the score to LICHT . ''Licht'' (Light), subtitled "Die sieben Tage der Woche" (The Seven Days of the Week), is a cycle of seven
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
s composed by
Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...
between 1977 and 2003. The composer described the work as an "eternal spiral" because "there is neither end nor beginning to the week." ''Licht'' consists of 29 hours of music.


Origin

The ''Licht'' opera project, originally titled ''Hikari'' (光 , Japanese for "light"), originated with a piece for dancers and
Gagaku is a type of Japanese classical music that was historically used for imperial court music and dances. was developed as court music of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and its near-current form was established in the Heian period (794–1185) arou ...
orchestra commissioned by the National Theatre in Tokyo. Titled ''Der Jahreslauf'' (The Course of the Years), this piece became the first act of ''Dienstag''. Another important Japanese influence is from Noh theater, which the composer cites in connection with his conception of stage action. The cycle also draws on elements from the
Judeo-Christian The term ''Judeo-Christian'' is used to group Christianity and Judaism together, either in reference to Christianity's derivation from Judaism, Christianity's recognition of Jewish scripture to constitute the Old Testament of the Christian Bibl ...
and
Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...
traditions. The title of ''Licht'' owes something to
Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian Modern yoga gurus, yogi, maharishi, and Indian nationalist. He also edited the newspaper Bande Mataram (publication), ''Bande Mataram''. Aurobindo st ...
's theory of "
Agni Agni ( ) is the Deva (Hinduism), Hindu god of fire. As the Guardians of the directions#Aṣṭa-Dikpāla ("Guardians of Eight Directions"), guardian deity of the southeast direction, he is typically found in southeast corners of Hindu temples. ...
" (the Hindu and Vedic fire deity), developed from two basic premises of nuclear physics, and Stockhausen's conception of the ''Licht'' superformula also owes a great deal to Sri Aurobindo's category of the "supramental". It is centered on three main characters, Michael, Eve, and Lucifer. Many of the events in the opera refer to '' The Urantia Book'', which was sold to Stockhausen by a remarkable figure during his
New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic is an American symphony orchestra based in New York City. Known officially as the ''Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc.'', and globally known as the ''New York Philharmonic Orchestra'' (NYPO) or the ''New Yo ...
concert in 1971. In his analysis of the cycle, Gregg Wager states that "There can be little doubt ... that Stockhausen's first and foremost inspiration for Lucifer's rebellion ... originated from ''the Urantia Book'' ... specific terms such as "Local System", "Planetary Princes" or "Paradise Sons" can only be from ''the Urantia Book''". Wager also points to the fact that Michael is clearly identified in ''Donnerstag'' as originating from "Nebadon", which is another location name peculiar to ''the Urantia Book''. The emblems of
Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
and
Lucifer The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology. He appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate (the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bib ...
in ''Licht'' are also derived from ''the Urantia Book''. According to Stockhausen biographer Michael Kurtz, "Michael, Lucifer and Eve are, for Stockhausen, more than theatrical figures. They are the expression of a world beyond, to which terrestrial eyes are blind, but which is given concrete form by ''The Urantia Book'' and other sources." Wager also takes care to assert that Lucifer, Eve, and Michael are "personal inventions of Stockhausen's that were made more meaningful through ''the Urantia Book''. ... The listener can also assume that Stockhausen has used these symbols freely and enjoys the style of absurdist theater manifested in ''Originale'' where no clear meaning is apparent." Furthermore, according to Markus Bandur, the ''Urantia Book'' references are concealed by means of associative strategies to other fields of meaning and, as work progressed on ''Licht'' after the first-composed opera, ''Donnerstag'', their significance progressively diminishes. The importance of the ''Urantia Book'' for Stockhausen's work should not be overestimated.


Structure

The musical structure of the cycle is based on three counterpointed main melodies (or "formulas"), each associated with a central character. It follows the method of super-formula composition: these melodies define both the tonal centers and durations of scenes as a whole, as well as the melodic phrasing in detail. Each of the three central characters is also associated with an instrument:
Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
with the
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...
,
Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...
with the basset horn, and
Lucifer The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology. He appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate (the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bib ...
with the
trombone The trombone (, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...
. ee : the ''Licht'' superformula. Stockhausen's conception of opera is more akin to the tableaux of the Renaissance
masque The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio (a public version of the masque was the pageant). A mas ...
and its hermetic cosmology than to traditional dramatic and climactic structures typical of the past two centuries. Because of its circular structure, in which the seven days of the week must be passed through again and again, a moral critique is rendered impossible, since the themes of the days perpetually return as permanent features of reality. This in turn reflects Stockhausen's theological outlook, which offers a perspective beyond the superficial differences and opposites that place limitations on thought and hope. ''Licht'' is not therefore primarily about the conflict between good and evil, but rather is a drama of latent tensions concerning a dispute about different conceptions of reality. The cycle is constructed modularly. Not only is each of the seven operas a self-sufficient work, but so are the individual acts, scenes, and—in some cases—portions of scenes. These modules may be segments (e.g., the eleven instrumental solo sections from ''Orchester-Finalisten'' from ''Mittwoch''), or layers (e.g., the electronic '' Oktophonie'' layer from the second act of ''Dienstag'' or the '' Klavierstück XIII'' version of the first scene of ''Samstag'' (''Luzifers Traum''), with the bass voice omitted), or a combination of the two (e.g., the vocal sextet ''Menschen, hört'' and the ''Bassetsu-Trio'', which are two layers of the "Karusel" subscene from ''Michaelion'', the fourth scene of ''Mittwoch'').


The seven days

There are seven operas, each named for a
day of the week In a vast number of languages, the names given to the seven days of the week are derived from the names of the classical planets in Hellenistic astronomy, which were in turn named after contemporary deities, a system introduced by the Sume ...
, whose subject matter reflects attributes associated in traditional
mythologies Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
with each day. These attributes in turn rest on the seven
planets A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets by the most restrictive definition of the te ...
of Antiquity (and their associated deities) from which the day-names are derived: * Monday = The
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
* Tuesday =
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
* Wednesday = Mercury * Thursday =
Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
* Friday =
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
* Saturday =
Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...
* Sunday = The
Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
Stockhausen sought to fashion the subjects for each opera through absorption in the traditions of this planet and immersion into the intuitive meaning of each day of the week—meanings of which most people are not aware. The cycle has neither a "beginning" nor an "ending"; like the days of the week, each opera leads to the next one, so that the conflict of Tuesday is followed by the reconciliation of Wednesday, and the mystical union of Sunday prepares the way for the new life of Monday. "In this way there is neither end nor beginning to the week. It is an eternal spiral". Each opera is composed from an elaborated form of the corresponding day-segment of the superformula, made by superimposing one or more complete lines from the superformula, compressed to the length of the day-segment. These are named for the day in question (e.g., ''Mittwoch-Formel''.) The separate acts and scenes often involve further superimpositions of formula material. For example, "Luzifers Traum", the first scene of ''Samstag'', has a total of five layers. Each day is also assigned a principal (or " exoteric") colour, as well as one or more secondary (or "
esoteric Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...
") colours.


Monday (1984–1988)

''Montag'', composed between 1984 and 1988, is dedicated to
Eve Eve is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and there ...
. It features an orchestra with synthesizers (called a "modern orchestra" by Stockhausen), backing 21 performers (14 voices, 6 instruments and an actor), as well as adult and children's choirs. The opera is in three acts, framed by a "greeting" and a "farewell." (This framing applies, with variation, to each opera in the cycle: a "greeting" either in the foyer of the opera house or in the auditorium, and a "farewell" after the performance, played either in the auditorium or outside the theater.) ''Mondays exoteric colour is bright green; its esoteric colours are opal and silver. The scenes and subscenes are as follows: * ''Montags-Gruß'' (Monday's Greeting) * Act 1: ''Evas Erstgeburt'' (Eve's First Birth-giving) **scene 1: ''In Hoffnung'' (Expecting) **scene 2: '' Heinzelmännchen'' **scene 3: ''Geburts-Arien'' (Birth Arias) **scene 4: ''Knaben-Geschrei'' (Boys' Hullaballoo) **scene 5: ''Luzifers Zorn'' (Lucifer's Fury) **scene 6: ''Das große Geweine'' (The Great Weeping) * Act 2: ''Evas Zweitgeburt'' (Eve's Second Birth-giving) **scene 1: ''Mädchenprozession'' (Girls' Prozession) **scene 2: ''Befruchtung mit Klavierstück''—''Wiedergeburt'' (Conception with Piano Piece—Rebirth) **scene 3: ''Evas Lied'' (Eve's Song) * Act 3: ''Evas Zauber'' (Eve's Magic) **scene 1: ''Botschaft'' (Message) **scene 2: ''Der Kinderfänger'' (The Pied Piper) iterally, "The Child-Catcher"**scene 3: ''Entführung'' (Abduction) *''Montags-Abschied'' (Monday's Farewell)
445 photos of ''Montag aus Licht'' at La Scala, Milan
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Tuesday (1977–1991)

After having composed the three "solo" operas (Thursday, Saturday and Monday), Stockhausen proceeded to explore all combinations of the characters. ''Dienstag'' is the day of conflict between Michael and Lucifer. After the opening greeting, two acts follow: ''Jahreslauf'' (Course of the Years) and ''Invasion-Explosion mit Abschied'' (Invasion-Explosion with Farewell). ''Dienstag'' is an opera for 17 performers (three solo voices, ten solo instrumentalists, and four dancer-mimes), actors, mimes, choir, a "modern orchestra" (29 to 32 instruments including synthesizers) and, in the second act,
electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
(titled "Oktophonie") projected in eight channels, with loudspeakers arranged at the corners of a cube shape around the audience. Since it is a "layer," this taped octophonic electronic music may be heard by itself. ''Tuesdays colour is red. The opera falls into the following sections and subsections: * ''Dienstags-Gruß'', Nr. 60 (1987–88) ** Willkommen ** Friedens-Gruß * Act 1: ''Jahreslauf'' (Course of the Years), Nr. 47 (1977/1991) * Act 2: ''Invasion-Explosion mit Abschied'' (Invasion-Explosion with Farewell), Nr. 61 (1990–91) ** Erste Luftabwehr (First Air-defense) ** Erste Invasion (First Invasion) ** Zweite Luftabwehr (Second Air-defense) ** Zweite Invasion (Second Invasion) ** Pietà ** Dritte Invasion (Third Invasion) ** Jenseits (Beyond) ** Synthi-Fou ** Abschied (Farewell)


Wednesday (1992–1998)

''Mittwoch'' is characterized by the cooperation of Eve, Michael and Lucifer. Composed between 1992 and 1998, the opera consists of four scenes: ''Welt-Parlament'' (World Parliament), ''Orchester-Finalisten'' (Orchestra Finalists), '' Helikopter-Streichquartett'' (Helicopter String Quartet), and ''Michaelion''. The third scene, which has acquired a certain celebrity, is scored, as its name implies, for four stringed instruments and four helicopters, the latter used both as a performatic device and a sound source. The greeting for ''Mittwoch'' is the electronic part of scene 4; the farewell is the electronic music from scene 2. The latter, like the electronic music for act 2 of ''Dienstag'', is projected octophonically through speakers arranged at the corners of a cube surrounding the audience. ''Wednesdays colour is bright yellow. The main divisions and their subdivisions are: * ''Mittwochs-Gruß'' * Scene 1: ''Welt-Parlament'' * Scene 2: ''Orchester-Finalisten'' **Oboe **Violoncello **Klarinette **Fagott **Violine **Tuba **Flöte **Posaune **Viola **Trompete **Kontrabaß **Horn **Orchester-Tutti * Scene 3: '' Helikopter-Streichquartett'' (1993) * Scene 4: ''Michaelion'' ** Präsidium ** Luzikamel *** Kakabel *** Shoe-Shine Serenade *** Taschen-Trick (Pocket Trick) *** Kamel-Tanz (Camel Dance) *** Stierkampf (Bullfight) ** Operator *** Thinki *** Bassetsu Trio (Karussell) (Carousel) *** "Menschen, hört" (Raum-Sextette) ("Listen, People"—Space-Sextet) * ''Mittwochs-Abschied''


Thursday (1978–1980)

''Donnerstag'' is an opera for 14 performers (three voices, eight instrumentalists, three dancers) plus a choir, an orchestra, and tapes. Though not the first part of ''Licht'' to be started, it was the first opera in the cycle to be completed, having been written between 1978 and 1980. Thursday is the day of the archangel
Michael Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...
, and the story is centered on this character. It opens in the foyer with a "greeting" for an ensemble of brass and percussion, followed in the theater by three acts, and ends outside the theater with a "farewell", played from the surrounding rooftops by five trumpeters. The 16-channel tape composition '' Unsichtbare Chöre'' (Invisible Choirs, 1979) is incorporated into act 1, and again into act 3, scene 1. Stockhausen's '' Klavierstück XII'' is an arrangement of act 1, scene 3, and a number of other segments were arranged by the composer for separate performance. ''Thursdays exoteric colour is bright blue. It is made up of the following parts: *''Donnerstags-Gruß'' (Thursday's Greeting) *Act 1: ''Michaels Jugend'' (Michael's Youth; employs ''Unsichtbare Chöre'') **scene 1: ''Kindheit'' (Childhood) **scene 2: Mondeva (Moon-Eve) **scene 3: ''Examen'' (Examination) ***Erstes Examen (First Examination) ***Zweites Examen (Second Examination) ***Drittes Examen (Third Examination) *Act 2: ''Michaels Reise um die Erde'' **Eingang und Formel (Entrance and Formula) **Erste Station (First Station): Germany **Zweite Station (Second Station): New York **Dritte Station (Third Station): Japan **Vierte Station (Fourth Station): Bali **Fünfte Station (Fifth Station): India **Sechste Station (Sixth Station): Central Africa **Siebte Station (Seventh Station): Jerusalem **Mission ***Verspottung (Derision) ***Kreuzigung (Crucifixion) ***Himmelfahrt (Ascension) *Act 3: ''Michaels Heimkehr'' (Michael's Homecoming) **scene 1: ''Festival'' (employs ''Unsichtbare Chöre'') **scene 2: ''Vision'' *''Donnerstags-Abschied'' (Thursday's Farewell)
286 photos of ''Donnerstag aus Licht''
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Friday (1991–1994)

''Freitag'', written between 1991 and 1994, portrays Eve's temptation by Lucifer. The whole is divided into two acts, and has a novel structure: apart from the greeting and farewell, it is composed of two layers of scenes: ten "real scenes" with live performers on stage and twelve "sound scenes" with electronic transformations of familiar sounds, both performed simultaneously over a third layer of abstract electronic music. It is a complex production headed by five acting musicians (soprano, baritone, bass, flute, basset horn) as well as 12 couples of dancer-mimes, children's orchestra, children's choir, 12 choir singers, synthesizer player, electronic music with sound scenes. ''Fridays colour is orange. The ten "real scenes" are: #''Antrag'' (Proposal) #''Kinder-Orchester'' (Children's Orchestra) #''Kinder-Chor'' (Children's Choir) #''Kinder-Tutti'' (Children's Tutti) #''Zustimmung'' (Consent) #''Fall'' #''Kinder-Krieg'' (Children's War) #''Reue'' (Repentance) #''Elufa'' #''Chor-Spirale'' (Choir Spiral)


Saturday (1981–1983)

''Samstag'' is an opera for 13 solo performers (one voice, ten instrumentalists, and two dancers) plus a symphonic band (or symphony orchestra), ballet or mimes, and male choir with organ. It was composed between 1981 and 1983. Saturday is
Lucifer The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology. He appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate (the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bib ...
's day; its exoteric colour is black. The opera opens with the ''Samstags Gruß'' for four spatially separated brass ensembles with percussion, which is followed by four scenes: *''Samstags-Gruß'' (Saturday's Greeting) *Scene 1: ''Luzifers Traum'' (Lucifer's Dream) ( Klavierstück XIII), for bass voice and piano *Scene 2: ''Kathinkas Gesang als Luzifers Requiem'' (Kathinka's Chant as Lucifer's Requiem), for flute and six percussionists *Scene 3: ''Luzifers Tanz'' (Lucifer's Dance), for symphony band (or orchestra), bass voice, solo piccolo, solo piccolo trumpet, solo dancer, stilt-dancer, and dancer-mimes **''Linker Augenbrauentanz'' (Left-Eyebrow Dance) **''Rechter Augenbrauentanz'' (Right-Eyebrow Dance) **''Linker Augentanz'' (Left-Eye Dance) **''Rechter Augentanz'' (Right-Eye Dance) **''Linker Backentanz'' (Left-Cheek Dance) **''Rechter Backentanz'' (Right-Cheek Dance) **''Nasenflügeltanz'' (Wing-of-the-Nose Dance) **''Oberlippentanz'' (Upper-Lip Dance) ***''Protest'' **''Zungenspitzentanz'' (Tip-of-the-Tongue Dance) **''Kinntanz'' (Chin Dance) *Scene 4: ''Luzifers Abschied'' (Lucifer's Farewell), for male choir, seven trombones, and organ
256 photos from ''Samstag aus Licht''
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Sunday (1998–2003)

''Sonntag'', written between 1998 and 2003, is centered on the mystical union of Eve and Michael, from which the new life of Monday is produced. It is an opera with five scenes and a farewell. The absence of Lucifer from scene 1 is explained by Stockhausen's description of an accessory scene, called ''Luziferium'', intended to be performed simultaneously with ''Sonntag'', but in a different place, symbolizing the imprisonment of Lucifer, away from Eve and Michael; ''Luziferium'' was sketched but never written. Scene 4 expands on the
multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...
nature of opera—with its music, dance, action and scenery—by involving another human sense: fragrances are released toward the audience. Scene 5 is actually two scenes in one, and consists of two parts: ''Hoch-Zeiten'' for five choirs and ''Hoch-Zeiten'' for five orchestral groups. (These components are performed simultaneously in two separate auditoriums. At various points acoustical "windows" are opened, through which the music from the other auditorium is "piped in" through loudspeakers. The scene is performed twice. After the interval, either the choir and orchestra change halls, or the divided audience does, in order that each group of listeners may experience the scene from both perspectives.) The Farewell is an adaptation for five synthesizers of the choral part of ''Hoch-Zeiten'', and it also exists in two further versions: one for solo percussionist with tape, ''Strahlen''; the other as '' Klavierstück XIX'' for synthesizer and tape. The opera falls into the following parts: *Scene 1: ''Lichter-Wasser'' (Sonntags-Gruß) (Lights-Waters—Sunday's Greeting), for soprano, tenor, and orchestra with synthesizer *Scene 2: ''Engel-Prozessionen'' (Angel-Processions), for seven choral groups *Scene 3: ''Licht-Bilder'' (Light-Pictures), for tenor, ring-modulated flute, basset horn, and ring-modulated trumpet *Scene 4: ''Düfte-Zeichen'' (Scents-Signs), for 7 solo voices, boy soprano, and synthesizer *Scene 5: ''Hoch-Zeiten'' (Weddings, but literally: High-Times), for choir and orchestra *''Sonntags-Abschied'' (Sunday's Farewell), for five synthesizers


Auxiliary works

Apart from the versions of various scenes that can be performed separately, and arrangements of such scenes, there are some pieces that lie outside of the ''Licht'' cycle proper, and yet are closely related to it. For example, the ''Licht'' superformula itself is adapted as a brief "signalling" piece: * ''Licht-Ruf'', Nr. 67, for variable ensemble (1995) Other pieces are "source" compositions, intermediate between the superformula and final compositional elaboration into parts of one of the operas. * ''Michaels-Ruf'', 1. ex Nr. , for variable ensemble (1978), the unscored basic material for the ''Donnerstags-Gruß'' * ''Xi'', 1. ex Nr. 55, for a melody instrument with microtones (1986), the "seed" material for the ''Montags-Gruß'' Some others are themselves elaborated from such source compositions, but follow a separate line of development: * ''Traum-Formel'', Nr. , for basset horn (1981), a recomposition of the formula of the first scene of ''Samstag'' * ''Flautina'', ex , for flute with piccolo and alto flute (1989), related to the scene "In Hoffnung" from the first act of ''Montag'' * ''Quitt'', for alto flute, clarinet, and trumpet, Nr. 1 ex 59 (1989), composed out from the basic plan of the ''Montags-Abschied'' * ''Ypsilon'', Nr. 2 ex 59, for a melody instrument with microtones (1989), also elaborated from the ''Montags-Abschied'' plan * ''Sukat'', Nr. 2 ex 60, for alto flute and basset horn (1989), based on the portion of the Tuesday formula used for the ''Dienstags-Gruß'' * ''Vibra-Elufa'', Nr. ex 64, for vibraphone (2003), based on the ninth "real scene" of ''Freitag'' (itself used as a source composition for other parts of that opera) * ''Thinki'', Nr. 1 ex 70, for flute (1997), recomposed from material in ''Michaelion'', the final scene of ''Mittwoch'' There are four pieces made of versions of the formula for ''Mittwoch'': * '' Europa-Gruss'', Nr. 72, for winds (1992/1995/2002), originally conceived as the "greeting" for ''Mittwoch'' but replaced * '' Trumpetent'', Nr. 73, for four trumpets (1995) * ''Mittwoch-Formel'', Nr. , for percussion trio (2004) * '' Klavierstück XVIII (Mittwoch-Formel)'', Nr. , for synthesizer (2004) Also, there is * '' Strahlen'', Nr. , for a percussionist and ten-channel sound recording (2002), fashioned from ''Hoch-Zeiten'' for choir Finally, there is: * '' Litanei 97'', Nr. 74, for choir and singing conductor (1997) which sets a text from ''
Aus den sieben Tagen ''Aus den sieben Tagen'' (From the Seven Days) is a collection of 15 text compositions by Karlheinz Stockhausen, composed in May 1968, in reaction to a personal crisis, and characterized as " Intuitive music"—music produced primarily from the ...
'' (1968), incorporating fragments of the ''Licht'' superformula.


Performances

Work on ''Licht'' began in 1977, and was finished in 2003, though the final scene was performed for the first time in 2004. All seven operas have been staged individually, at
La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...
(''Thursday'', ''Saturday'', and ''Monday''),
Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
(''Thursday''), Leipzig Opera (''Tuesday'' and ''Friday''), Cologne Opera (''Sunday''), and Birmingham Opera Company (''Wednesday'', premiered on the composer's birthday, 22 August 2012). Plans had previously been made to stage ''Wednesday'' in
Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
in 2000 and in
Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
in 2003, but both were canceled due to financial and technical problems. The entire cycle was broadcast in a series on SWR2 between 2001 and 2007, introduced by the composer in conversation with Reinhard Ermen. Performing such a piece is a challenge not only due to its length, but also due to the
logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...
involved. Each part, and in many cases, each scene, is designed for a different configuration of musicians, ranging from scenes written for a cappella choir to orchestra with
synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...
to string quartet playing from
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
s above the concert hall. In 2019 the Holland Festival together with Royal Conservatory of The Hague initiated a three-day immersion into ''Licht'' that was called ''aus LICHT''. It included portions of the ''Licht'' cycle from all seven days, totaling about 15 hours of performance time. The three days/parts were: * Michael * Lucifer and Eve * Cooperation and the Opening Up of Space Performance dates were May 31 – June 2, June 4–6, and June 8–10. ''aus LICHT'' was a joint production of the
Dutch National Opera The Dutch National Opera (DNO; formerly De Nederlandse Opera, now De Nationale Opera in Dutch) is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Dutch National Opera & Ballet housed in the Stopera building, a m ...
, Holland Festival, Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and the Stockhausen Foundation for Music. In 2018, the French company Le Balcon, and its musical director Maxime Pascal, began a complete stage production of the cycle. In 2018, ''Thursday'' premiered at the
Opéra-Comique The Opéra-Comique () is a Paris opera company which was founded around 1714 by some of the popular Théâtre de la foire, theatres of the Parisian fairs. In 1762 the company was merged with – and for a time took the name of – its chief riva ...
, staged by Benjamin Lazar; in 2019, ''Saturday'' premiered at the Philharmonie de Paris, staged by Damien Bigourdan and Nieto. In 2020, a few days before the second Covid-related lock-in, ''Tuesday'' premiered at the Philharmonie de Paris, with the same team. In 2022, ''Friday'' premiered at the Opéra de Lille, staged by Silvia Costa. In 2023, ''Sunday'' premiered at the Philharmonie de Paris, staged by Ted Huffman. The last two opuses in the complete series will be performed in 2025 (''Monday'', staged by Silvia Costa) and 2026 (''Wednesday''). In June 2024, five excerpts from the Dutch 2019 ''aus Licht'' adaptation were performed at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. The performances were named as a Critic's Pick by The New York Times.


World premières

* Donnerstag (''Thursday'') – 1981, at
La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...
in Milan * Samstag (''Saturday'') – May 1984, at La Scala in Milan * Montag (''Monday'') – 1988, at La Scala in Milan * Dienstag (''Tuesday'') – 1993, at the Leipzig Opera * Freitag (''Friday'') – September 1996, at the Leipzig Opera * Mittwoch (''Wednesday'') – staged première of the entire opera by Birmingham Opera Company, 22 August 2012, The Argyle Works,
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
; première broadcast as a whole by SWR in 2003; première stagings of the individual scenes were as follows: **Scene 1 ''Welt-Parlament'' ("World Parliament") – 1996, Stuttgart **Scene 2 ''Orchester-Finalisten'' ("Orchestra Finalists") – 1996, Holland Festival, Amsterdam **Scene 3 ''Helikopter-Streichquartett'' – 1995 Holland Festival, Amsterdam **Scene 4 ''Michaelion'' July 1998, in the Prinzregententheater, Munich * Sonntag (''Sunday'') – broadcast as a whole by SWR in 2007; première staging as a whole was on 9 April (Scenes 1, 2 and 3) and 10 April (Scenes 4 and 5 and the Farewell), 2011, in
Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...


References

Sources * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* Anon. 13 March 2012.
Helicopters Get Part in Olympic Opera Event
. ''
The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...
''. * Adamenko, Victoria. 2007. ''Neo-mythologism in Music: From Scriabin and Schoenberg to Schnittke and Crumb''. Interplay Series 5. Hillsdale, New York: Pendragon Press. . * Barrett, Richard. 1988. "''Montag aus Licht'' at the Holland Festival". ''
Tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
'', new series, no. 166 (September): 43–45. * Bauer, Christian. 2008. ''Sacrificium intellectus: Das Opfer des Verstandes in der Kunst von Karlheinz Stockhausen, Botho Strauß und Anselm Kiefer''. Munich: Wilhelm Fink Verlag. . * Bor, Mustafa. 2008. "Pitch and Duration Contours in Karlheinz Stockhausen's Super-formula for ''Licht''". In ''Musical Currents from the Left Coast'', edited by Jack Boss and Bruce Quaglia, 129–154. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars. . * Braun, Thomas Manfred. 2008. "Das magische Quadrat in Karlheinz Stockhausens LICHT-BILDER". In ''Gedenkschrift für Stockhausen'', edited by Suzanne Stephens and Kathinka Pasveer, 19–30. Kürten: Stockhausen-Stiftung für Musik. . * Breault, Marie-Hélène. 2008. "The Timbre of the Flute and the Character of the Cat in Karlheinz Stockhausen's SATURDAY from LIGHT". In ''Gedenkschrift für Stockhausen'', edited by Suzanne Stephens and Kathinka Pasveer, 31–44. Kürten: Stockhausen-Stiftung für Musik. . * Brotbeck, Roman. 2004. "Anmerkungen zur ''Pietà''". In ''Internationales Stockhausen-Symposion 2000: LICHT. Musikwissenschaftliches Institut der Universität zu Köln, 19. bis 22. Oktober 2000. Tagungsbericht'', edited by Imke Misch and Christoph von Blumröder, 51–60. Münster: Lit-Verlag. . * Brümmer, Ludger. 2008. "Stockhausen on Electronics, 2004". '' Computer Music Journal'' 32, no. 4:10–16. * Coenen, Alcedo. 1992.
Karlheinz Stockhausen's ''Licht'': Facts and Some Remarks
. * Draus, Agnieszka. 2008. "LICHT by Karlheinz Stockhausen: From Theory to Metaphysics". In ''Gedenkschrift für Stockhausen'', edited by Suzanne Stephens and Kathinka Pasveer, 47–58. Kürten: Stockhausen-Stiftung für Musik. . * Draus, Agnieszka. 2016. "Looking for Tradition in the Opera Cycle ''Licht'' by Karlheinz Stockhausen". In ''The Musical Legacy of Karlheinz Stockhausen: Looking Back and Forward'', edited by M. J. Grant and Imke Misch, 116–122. Hofheim: Wolke Verlag. . * Drew, Joseph. 2014. ''Michael From Light: A Character Study of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Hero''. Ph.D. diss. New York: New York University. * Frisius, Rudolf. 2013. ''Karlheinz Stockhausen III: Die Werkzyklen 1977–2007''. Mainz, London, Berlin, Madrid, New York, Paris, Prague, Tokyo, Toronto: Schott Music. . * Grohmann, Katerina. 2010. ''Karlheinz Stockhausen: Oper MITTWOCH aus LICHT''. Kölner Beiträge zur Musikwissenschaft 12, edited by Christoph von Blumröder, Wolfram Steinbeck. Kassel: Bosse Verlag. . * Grüß, Hans. 2004. "Einige vorläufige Anmerkungen zu textlichen und musikalischen Grundmomenten in ''Licht''". In ''Internationales Stockhausen-Symposion 2000: LICHT. Musikwissenschaftliches Institut der Universität zu Köln, 19. bis 22. Oktober 2000. Tagungsbericht'', edited by Imke Misch and Christoph von Blumröder, 147–159. Münster: Lit-Verlag. . * Hartwell, Robin, 2012. "Threats and Promises: Lucifer, Hell, and Stockhausen's ''Sunday from Light''". ''
Perspectives of New Music ''Perspectives of New Music'' (PNM) is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Musi ...
'' 50, nos. 1 & 2 (Winter–Summer): 393–424. * Henkel, Georg. 2012. ''Kosmisches Lachen: Synthi-Fou und der närrische Humor in Karlheinz Stockhausens Opernzyklus Licht''. Hamburg: Tredition GmbH. . * Henkel, Georg. 2016. "Angel of Joy: Stockhausen's 'Mirrors in Sound' langspiegeland the Audibility of the Inaudible". In ''The Musical Legacy of Karlheinz Stockhausen: Looking Back and Forward'', edited by M. J. Grant and Imke Misch, 138–147. Hofheim: Wolke Verlag. . * Kohl, Jerome. 1983–84. "Stockhausen at La Scala: Semper Idem sed Non Eodem Modo." ''
Perspectives of New Music ''Perspectives of New Music'' (PNM) is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Musi ...
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Perspectives of New Music ''Perspectives of New Music'' (PNM) is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Musi ...
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Tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
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Perspectives of New Music ''Perspectives of New Music'' (PNM) is a peer-reviewed academic journal specializing in music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Musi ...
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External links




BBC News story on the planned performance in Dresden in 2008

''Licht'' website
(archive from 1 April 2016). {{Authority control 1981 operas 1984 operas 1988 operas 1993 operas 1996 operas 1998 operas 20th-century classical music 2003 operas 2011 operas Operas by Karlheinz Stockhausen German-language operas Music dedicated to causes or groups Opera cycles Operas Serial compositions Spatial music Science fiction operas Operas set in mythological places