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Welcome Works: Alphabetic Works: Chronological Works: Timeline The Complete Stockhausen CD Series
The LICHT Opera Cycle The LICHT Super-Formula KLANG, The 24 Hours of the Day
All content here is for educational
LICHT (LIGHT)
purposes only and is designed to
illuminate and otherwise share the great
work of the composer/sound designer
Karlheinz Stockhausen. Please support
the Stockhausen Foundation for Music by
purchasing CDs, DVDs and scores from
their website:
www.karlheinzstockhausen.org
Thanks to Stockhausen Verlag for
allowing usage of images from their
CDs and scores.
Analyses and editorial content
copyright Ed Chang unless otherwise
indicated.
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operas written in the last 200 years, and could even be viewed more accurately as thematicallylinked, eveninglength productions A Timeline History of 20th Century
featuring electroacoustic concert works driven by seminarrative vocal elements. Classical and Electronic Music
"This is your pilot speaking..."
Plotwise, individual Acts of an opera may not necessarily form a conventional story arc, and may only be narrativelyconnected
through an inferred theme (heroism, motherhood, collaboration, love, war, etc). Although any staging of a LICHT opera will feature some
extremely dramatic (and symbolic) stage design and costuming, the music and stage presentation of a LICHT opera is much more LOOKING FOR A SPECIFIC
abstracted and atomized than what one would find in a Verdi or Wagner opera. One of the advantages of this kind of "anthology" PIECE?
approach is that each Act or Scene can also be arranged as an independent work, and even sequenced with nonLICHT pieces (this
scenario occurs in several of the Stockhausen Edition CDs). Additionally, the libretto text is very often is made up of nontraditional
Go!
grammar as well, and while the first opera (DONNERSTAG) is sung entirely in German, later opera "days" employ multiple world
languages (even some which Stockhausen invented himself). However, despite the "modernist" elements, the cycle of works as a whole
A FEATURED WORK
does describe the evolving relationship between 3 main characters: MICHAEL, EVE and LUCIFER. Over the 29 hours of LICHT these
characters are introduced, come into conflict, face temptation and finally come into union. AUS DEN SIEBEN
TAGEN
…
OFFICIAL STORE:
CDs
MONTAG AUS LICHT (© www.karlheinzstockhausen.org) DVDs
Scores
MICHAEL, EVE, LUCIFER
Books
One way to enter the world of LICHT is to view the 7 operas as one epic drama involving the characters Michael, Eve and Lucifer.
Michael is essentially the protagonist, and his journey starts with his childhood years in the the first opera, DONNERSTAG AUS LICHT.
The second opera, SAMSTAG AUS LICHT, introduces Lucifer, who essentially represents a "conservative" point of view stubborn and
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resistant to growth. Eve, the lover/mother figure, is portrayed "conceiving and giving birth" to Mankind in the third opera, MONTAG AUS
LICHT.
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Stockhausen on Electronic
After these first three operas have each introduced the main characters, conflict arises in DIENSTAG AUS LICHT. This 4th opera Music (19521960)
depicts a "cosmic war" between Michael and Lucifer. LICHT's 5th installment, FREITAG AUS LICHT, replaces physical conflict with WDR Electronic Music
mental temptation, as Lucifer tries to seduce Eve away from Michael, using the "soft power" of a children's brigade. MITTWOCH AUS Studio Tour (2015)
LICHT is the 6th opera, and here the characters settle their differences through dialogues on Earth and in deep space. The final opera is
SONNTAG AUS LICHT, and in this final episode Michael and Eve complete their union in a symbolic marriage ceremony (Lucifer has left
GESANG DER
the stage by this point). Since LICHT is always characterized as a "cycle", it's probably not a huge stretch to imagine that Michael and JÜNGLINGE
Eve have a child which is next seen in DONNERSTAG AUS LICHT...
It may also be interesting to note that over the course of the 7 operas of LICHT, the entities of Michael, Eve and Lucifer are realized in
thematic solos, duos and a trio.
KLAVIERSTÜCKE V X
MICHAEL, EVE & LUCI
MITTWOCH trio GRUPPEN
FER
The LICHT SuperFormula
CATEGORIES
1950s (17)
1960s (23)
1970s (18)
1980s (11)
1990s (14)
2000s (16)
Chamber (41)
ElectroAcoustic (29)
Electronic Music (or solo synth) (17)
Intuitive/PlusMinus/Aleatoric (18)
DIENSTAG AUS LICHT (© www.karlheinzstockhausen.org) Orchestral (24)
LICHT: Modular Vehicles For Exploration Piano (13)
As mentioned above, often times a scene from LICHT may have been composed to satisfy a commission (with prescribed RingModulation (5)
instrumentation or choir groups). For over a quarter century, this circumstance allowed Stockhausen to continue exploring new and Shortwave Radio (5)
different avenues of composition during the assembly of each chapter of the LICHT narrative. Additionally, due to the modular nature of Vocal/Choral (31)
the Acts, Stockhausen had the opportunity to revisit and remount these scenes as independent concert works, sometimes modifying the
original voicings to accommodate smaller chambersize forces (for example, giving a vocal line to the piano right hand part). Other times,
a melodic theme from one of the scenes may be rearranged with entirely new instrumentation and even elaborated upon with additional STOCKHAUSEN RESOURCES
variations of the thematic material (for example the "LUCIFER dances" from SAMSTAG AUS LICHT).
Stockhausen: Sounds in Space Facebook
page
Although many LICHT scenes were prompted by commissions, the operas themselves are totally uncompromising in approach. Less
Official Stockhausen Page
texturally "harsh" than the late '60s/early '70s "process/plusminus" pieces (KURZWELLEN, PROZESSION, SPIRAL, POLE, etc),
Stockhausen nonetheless still challenges his listeners from a melodic/harmonic viewpoint. However, if one puts the time into them, the Video clips, English translations, CD
Samples, etc...
attentive and thoughtful listener will always be rewarded with new treasures upon repeated listenings. For live productions of course, the
Stonebraker Stockhausen Archive
audience is also rewarded with Stockhausen's enigmatic, absurd, and often humorous visual imagination, including everything from a Back to Top
(backup)
trapeze orchestra (ORCHESTRA FINALISTS) to Satanic stiltmen (LUCIFER'S DANCE) to interaudience musical troop movements
Stockhausen Discography
(INVASION – EXPLOSION). However for listeners at home, the site articles here (coupled with the ample photos in the CD booklets) will
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hopefully help point out some of the most important musical scenery along the way. Stockhausen Forum
Fin O'Suilleabhain's Set Sail For the Sun
Composer's Compendium: Karlheinz
Stockhausen (Thanima's somewhat
hipstery overview)
Albrecht Moritz's Essays
Sonoloco Record Reviews
Stockhausen's Spaceship (GMG Forum
Topic)
The Stockhausen Society
Markus Stockhausen on Stockhausen
James Ingram's Page
BLOG ARCHIVE
▼ 2014 (39)
► May (7)
► June (4)
► July (5)
▼ August (3)
DIENSTAG AUS LICHT (© www.karlheinzstockhausen.org) KONTRAPUNKTE
KLANG Hour 2: FREUDE
LICHT Structure
The table below depicts the overall structure of the 7opera LICHT cycle. Each opera is made up of two to four Acts/Scenes, and is LICHT (LIGHT)
bookended by an opening "Greeting" and a closing "Farewell". These introductory and closing sequences sometimes act as "ambient
► September (6)
background music" while the audience is arriving at or departing from the opera hall (for example, in MONTAG AUS LICHT). Other times
these sections may be as substantial as any of the opera's main Acts (such as the case with LUCIFERs ABSCHIED). ► October (6)
► November (4)
► December (4)
The LICHT Cycle
DONNERSTAG AUS LICHT ► 2015 (55)
Thursday From Light ► 2016 (1)
FREITAG AUS LICHT
Friday From Light
FREITAGS
FREITAGS GRUSS
FREITAGVERSUCHUNG PAARE vom FREITAG ABSCHIED
Friday
Friday Temptation Couples of Friday Friday
Greeting
Farewell
MITTWOCH AUS LICHT
Wednesday From Light
HELIKOPTER
MITTWOCHS WELT ORCHESTER MITTWOCHs
STREICH
GRUSS PARLAMENT FINALISTEN ABSCHIED
QUARTET MICHAELION
Wednesday World Orchestra Wednesday
Helicopter
Greeting Parliament Finalists Farewell
String Quartet
SONNTAG AUS LICHT Back to Top
Sunday From Light
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Scene 1 Scene 2 Scene 3 Scene 4 Scene 5 Farewell
LICHTER
WASSER ENGEL SONNTAGs
HOCHZEITEN
(SONNTAGS PROZESSIONEN LICHTBILDER DÜFTEZEICHEN ABSCHIED
High Times
GRUSS) Angel LightPictures ScentsSigns Sunday
(Marriages)
LightWaters Processions Farewell
(Sunday Greeting)
LICHT Forces
The links below lead to brief synopses and breakdowns of the instrumental forces utilized in each work.
DONNERSTAG AUS LICHT
SAMSTAG AUS LICHT
MONTAG AUS LICHT
DIENSTAG AUS LICHT
FREITAG AUS LICHT
MITTWOCH AUS LICHT
SONNTAG AUS LICHT
Development and Deployment of the LICHT "SuperFormula"
Links:
Albrecht Moritz's Stockhausen Reviews
Bernard Pulham LICHT Essays
Sonoloco Record Reviews
Wiki Entry on LICHT
Ian Parson's blog article and PBS LICHT broadcast
Malcolm Ball's interview with Stockhausen on LICHT (1997)
The Evolution of Macro and MicroTime Relations in Stockhausen's Recent Music (Jerome Kohl)
Into the Middleground: Formula Syntax in Stockhausen's Licht (Jerome Kohl)
Time and Light (Jerome Kohl)
Ed Chang
(These blogs function not so much as "web diaries" but more like "online books" I've written (or am writing), with each post being analogous
to a book "chapter". The blog projects I work on are typically histories, song breakdowns, synopses, and/or analyses. I've learned a lot while creating
these things, and I hope you enjoy them.)
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