Licht

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Licht (Light), subtitled "The Seven Days of the Week," is a cycle of seven operas composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen which, in total, lasts over 29 hours. Though it has often been said it was inspired by The Urantia Book, only "Donnerstag" makes direct reference to it, in acts 1 and 3. The symbols of Michael and Lucifer in Licht are also derived from this book (Bandur 2004).

The project, originally titled "Hikari" (Japanese for "light"), originated with a piece for dancers and Gagaku orchestra commissioned by the National Theatre in Tokyo, titled "Jahreslauf" (meaning "Course of the Years").

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.

Contents

[edit] Parts

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).

[edit] 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).

[edit] 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).

[edit] 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 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).

[edit] 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 vom Dienstag" (Course of the Years of Tuesday) 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.

[edit] 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, bassett-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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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". Expanding on the multimedia nature of an opera, which involves several art forms such as music, dance, theater and scenery, act 3 involves yet another human sense, by including the release of fragrances towards the audience.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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:

  • Licht-Ruf, Nr. 67, for variable ensemble (1995)

Similar cases are the bases for the Donnerstags-Gruss:

  • Michaels-Ruf, 1. ex Nr. 48½, for variable ensemble (1978)

a recomposition of the formula of the first scene of Samstag:

  • Traum-Formel, Nr. 51⅔, for basset horn (1981)

the "seed" material for the Montags-Gruss:

  • Xi, 1. ex Nr. 55, for a melody instrument with microtones (1986)

and four versions of the formula for Mittwoch:

  • Europa-Gruss, Nr. 72, for winds (1992/2002)
  • Trumpetent, Nr. 73, for four trumpets (1995)
  • Mittwoch-Formel, Nr. 73½, for percussion trio (2004)
  • Klavierstück XVIII (Mittwoch-Formel), Nr. 73⅔, for synthesizer (2004)

and finally, there is:

  • Litanei 97, Nr. 74, for choir and conductor (1997)

which sets a text from Aus den sieben Tagen (1968), incorporating fragments of the Licht superformula.

[edit] 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 helicopters 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.

[edit] World premieres

  • Donnerstag (Thursday) - 1981, at La Scala 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) - 1996-1998, not yet staged as a whole
  • Sonntag (Sunday) - 1999-2003, not yet staged as a whole
    • I - Lichter-Wasser (Sonntags-Gruss) (Lights-Waters (Sunday Greeting)) - October 1999, at the Donaueschingen Music Festival
    • II - Engel-Prozessionen (Angel Processions) - November 2002, in Amsterdam
    • III - Licht-Bilder (Light-Pictures) - October 2004 at the Donaueschingen Music Festival
    • IV - Düfte-Zeichen (Scents-Signs) - August 2003, at the Salzburger Festspiele
    • V - Hoch-Zeiten (High-Times) - February 2003, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
    • Sonntags-Abschied ("Sunday Farewell"') - 2004, at the Stockhausen Courses in Kürten

[edit] References

  • Bandur, Markus. 2004. “„…alles aus einem Kern entfaltet, thematisch und strukturell“. Karlheinz Stockhausen und die Rezeption des Urantia Book in LICHT.” In Internationales Stockhausen-Symposion 2000: LICHT: Musikwissenschaftliches Institut der Universität zu Köln, 19. bis 22. Oktober 2000. Tagungsbericht. Signale aus Köln: Musik der Zeit 10. Ed. Imke Misch and Christoph von Blumröder, 136–46. Münster, Berlin, London: Lit Verlag. ISBN 3-8258-7944-5. [1]
  • Bandur, Markus. 1999. "The Composition of Meaning: Construction and Semantics in Karlheinz Stockhausen's Luzifer-Gruss vom Samstag aus Licht." Perspectives of New Music 37, no. 1 (Winter): 157-78.
  • Bruno, Pascal. 1999. "Donnerstag aus Licht: A New Myth, or Simply an Updating of a Knowledge?" Perspectives of New Music 37, no. 1 (Winter):133-56.
  • Coenen, Alcedo. 1992. "Karlheinz Stockhausen's Licht: Facts and Some Remarks." [2]
  • Kohl, Jerome. 1983-84. “Stockhausen at La Scala: Semper Idem sed Non Eodem Modo.” Perspectives of New Music 22:483–501.
  • Kohl, Jerome. 1985. “Stockhausen on Opera.” Perspectives of New Music 23/2 (Spring-Summer): 24–39.
  • Kohl, Jerome. 1990. “Into the Middleground: Formula Syntax in Stockhausen’s Licht.” Perspectives of New Music 28/2 (Summer): 262–91
  • Kohl, Jerome. 1993. “Time and Light.” Contemporary Music Review 7/2 (1993): 203–219.
  • Kohl, Jerome. 2004. “Der Aspekt der Harmonik 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, 116–32. Münster, Berlin, London: LIT-Verlag.
  • Ruch, Christian. 1999. "Noten für Nebadon: Anmerkungen zur Polemik um das Werk des Komponisten Karlheinz Stockhausen." Materialdienst der Evangelische Zentralstelle für Weltanschauungsfragen, 62, no. 7 :209-211. [3]
  • Schwerdtfeger, Dettloff. 2000. Karlheinz Stockhausens Oper Donnerstag aus Licht: Ziel und Anfang einer kompositorischen Entwicklung. Kürten: Stockhausen-Stiftung für Musik.
  • Stoianova, Ivanka. 1999. "And Dasein Becomes Music: Some Glimpses of Light."Perspectives of New Music 37, no. 1 (Winter):179-212.
  • The Urantia Book. Chicago: Urantia Foundation, 1955. ISBN 0-911560-07-6. [4]

[edit] External links

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