Information AboutLicht |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT LICHT | |
| 20th century classical music | |
| compositions by karlheinz stockhausen | |
| german-language operas | |
| operas | |
| 2003 operas | |
| 2004 operas | |
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ORIGIN The project, originally titled ''Hikari'' (Japanese for "light"), originated with a piece for dancers and Gagaku orchestra commissioned by the National Theater in Tokyo , titled ''Jahreslauf'' (Course of the Years), which 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 (Stockhausen, Conen, and Hennlich 1989, 282). Though it has often been said ''Licht'' was inspired by '' The Urantia Book '', only ''Donnerstag'' makes direct reference to it, in acts 1 and 3. The emblems of Michael and Lucifer in ''Licht'' are also derived from this book (Bandur 2004). 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 with the Trumpet , Eve with the Basset-horn , and Lucifer with the Trombone . PARTS There are seven operas, each named for a Day Of The Week , whose subject matter reflects attributes associated in traditional Mythologies with each day. These attributes in turn rest on the seven Planets of Antiquity (and their associated deities) from which the day-names are derived:
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 (Kohl 1990 and 1993). Thursday ''Donnerstag'' is an opera for 14 performers: 3 voices, 8 instrumentalists, 3 dancers, plus a choir, an orchestra, and tapes. It was the first part of ''Licht'' to be written, between 1978 and 1980. Thursday is the day of the archangel Michael , and the story is centered around this character. It opens in the foyer with ''Donnerstags Gruss'' (Thursday's Greeting), followed in the theater by three acts: ''Michaels Jugend'' (Michael's Youth, in three scenes: "Childhood", "Moon-Eve", and "Examination"), ''Michaels Reise um die Erde'' (Michael's Journey Round the Earth) and ''Michaels Heimkehr'' (Michael's Homecoming, in two scenes: "Festival" and "Vision"), followed outside the theater by ''Donnerstags Abschied'' (Thursday's Farewell). Saturday ''Samstag'' is an opera for 13 performers: 1 voice, 10 instrumentalists, 2 dancers, backed by a symphonic band, ballet or mimes, as well as a chorus with organ. It was composed between 1981 and 1983. Saturday is Lucifer 's day. It opens with ''Samstags Gruss'' (Saturday's Greeting) (Bandur 1999). The opera consists of four scenes: ''Luzifers Traum'' (Lucifer's Dream), ''Kathinkas Gesang als Luzifers Requiem'' (Kathinka's Chant as Luzifer's Requiem), ''Luzifers Tanz'' (Lucifer's Dance), and ''Luzifers Abschied'' (Lucifer's Farewell). Monday ''Montag'', composed between 1984 and 1988. is dedicated to Eve . It is the first part to feature 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. As usual, it opens with ''Montags Gruss'' (Monday's Greeting). Three acts follow: ''Evas Erstgeburt'' (Eve's First Birth-Giving), ''Evas Zweitgeburt'' (Eve's Second Birth-Giving) and ''Evas Zauber'' (Eve's Magic). The piece closes with ''Montags Abschied'' (Monday's Farewell). Tuesday After having composed the three "solo" operas, 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, with 3 solo voices, 10 solo instrumentalist, again a "modern orchestra" (14 instruments including synthesizers) and, in the second act, electronic music (called "Oktophonie") projected in eight channels, with loudspeakers arranged at the corners of a cube shape around the audience. Friday ''Freitag'' portrays Eve's temptation by Lucifer. This part, written between 1991 and 1994, 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. The whole is divided into two acts. It is a complex production headed by 5 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. Wednesday ''Mittwoch'' is characterized by the cooperation of Eve, Michael and Lucifer. This complex piece, written between 1992 and 1998, is comprised of four scenes: ''Welt-Parlament'' (World Parliament), ''Orchester-Finalisten'' (Orchestra Finalists), ''Helikopter-Streichquartett'' (Helicopter String Quartet)—which is a piece, as the name implies, for four stringed instruments and four helicopters, the latter used both as a performatic device and as a sound source—and ''Michaelion''. The greeting for ''Mittwoch'' is the electronic part of scene 4, and the farewell is the electronic music from scene 2. Sunday ''Sonntag'', written between 1998 and 2003, is centered on the mystical union of Eve and Michael. It is an opera with five scenes and a farewell (scene 1 is also the Greeting): ''Lichter-Wasser'' (Lights-Waters), ''Engel-Prozessionen'' (Angel Processions), ''Licht-Bilder'' (Light Pictures), ''Düfte-Zeichen'' (Scents-Signs), ''Hoch-Zeiten'' (Weddings or, more literally, High-Times), and ''Sonntags Abschied'' (Sunday's Farewell). The farewell is an adaptation for five sythesizers of the choral part of "Hoch-Zeiten", and also exists in a version for soloist with tape, in which guise it is the composer's '' Klavierstück XIX ''. Expanding on the Multimedia nature of an opera, which involves several art forms such as music, dance, theater and scenery, scene 4 involves yet another human sense, by including the release of fragrances towards the audience. The final scene is actually two scenes in one, performed simultaneously in two separate auditoriums: one for five choirs and the other for five orchestral groups. At various points, aural "windows" are provided through which the music from the other auditorium is "piped in" through loudspeakers, and the scene is performed twice, the second time with the choirs in the hall where the instrumentalists performed the first time, and vice-versa. Luziferium The notable absence of the third main character, Lucifer, holds the key to a mystery that surrounds ''Licht'': Stockhausen has mentioned an additional scene, called ''Luziferium'', which is intended to be performed simultaneously to ''Sonntag'', but in a different place, symbolizing the imprisonment of Lucifer, away from Eve and Michael. This scene has never been performed, and it is not known if it has been written yet or if it ever will be. AUXILIARY WORKS Apart from the versions of various scenes that can be performed separately, and arrangements of such scenes (e.g., ''Bijou'', which is an instrumental version of act 1, scene 1 of ''Donnerstag''), there are some pieces that lie outside of the ''Licht'' cycle proper, and yet are closely related to it. Some of these are "source" compositions, based on the superformula and serving in turn as the basis for further compositional elaboration. In some cases, they are themselves elaborated from such source compositions, but follow a separate line of development. For example, the ''Licht'' superformula itself is adapted as a brief "signalling" piece:
Similar cases are the bases for the ''Donnerstags-Gruss'':
a recomposition of the formula of the first scene of ''Samstag'':
the "seed" material for the ''Montags-Gruss'':
and four versions of the formula for ''Mittwoch'':
and finally, there is:
which sets a text from Aus Den Sieben Tagen (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. The first five operas have been staged at La Scala , Covent Garden , and the Leipzig Opera , but the two final operas have yet to be staged in their entirety, though the scenes have had separate premieres (as was also true for the other five operas). The four scenes of "Wednesday" were performed individually between 1996 and 1998. Plans were made to stage "Wednesday" in Bonn in 2000 and in Berne in 2003, but both were canceled due to financial and technical problems. The five scenes of "Sunday" were premiered between 1999 and 2004. Performing such a piece is a challenge not only due to its length, but also due to the Logistics involved. Each part, and in many cases, each scene, is designed for a different composition of musicians, ranging from scenes written for a capella choir to orchestra with Synthesizer to string quartet playing from Helicopter s above the concert hall. Still, early plans have been announced to perform ''Licht'' in its entirety in Dresden in 2008 (celebrating Stockhausen's 80th birthday) and Essen in 2010. WORLD PREMIERES
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