Licht

The Licht opera project, originally titled Hikari (光 , Japanese for "light"), originated with a piece for dancers and Gagaku 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 (Stockhausen, Conen, and Hennlich 1989, 282). The cycle also draws on elements from the Judeo-Christian and Vedic traditions (Bruno 1999, 134). The title of Licht owes something to Sri Aurobindo's theory of "Agni" (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" (Peters 2003, 227). 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 concert in 1971 (Kurtz 1992, 188). 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 1998, 193). 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 (Wager 1998, 194). The emblems of Michael and Lucifer in Licht are also derived from the Urantia Book (Bandur 2004, 142).

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" (Kurtz 1992, 228). 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" (Wager 1998, 208). 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 (Bandur 2004, 144). The importance of the Urantia Book for Stockhausen's work should not be overestimated (Ulrich 2001, 28).

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 with the trumpet, Eve with the basset horn, and Lucifer with the trombone.

[See (Stockhausen 1978): the Licht superformula]

Stockhausen's conception of opera is more akin to the tableaux of the Renaissance masque and its hermetic cosmology than to traditional dramatic and climactic structures typical of the past two centuries (Godwin 1998, 354). 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 (Ulrich 2012b, 99–100). 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 (Maconie 2016, 383).

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).

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 (Stockhausen 1989b, 152–53):

• Monday = The Moon
• Tuesday = Mars
• Wednesday = Mercury
• Thursday = Jupiter
• Friday = Venus
• Saturday = Saturn
• Sunday = The Sun

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 (Stockhausen 1989b, 176). 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" (Stockhausen 1989b, 156). 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 Kohl 1993).

Each day is also assigned a principal (or "exoteric") colour, as well as one or more secondary (or "esoteric") colours (Stockhausen 1989b, 199–200).

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. 48½, 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. 51⅔, for basset horn (1981), a recomposition of the formula of the first scene of Samstag
• Flautina, ex 56½, 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. 9¾ 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. 73½, for percussion trio (2004)
• Klavierstück XVIII (Mittwoch-Formel), Nr. 73⅔, for synthesizer (2004)

Also, there is

• Strahlen, Nr. 80½, 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 (1968), incorporating fragments of the Licht superformula.

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 (Thursday, Saturday, and Monday), Covent Garden (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 in 2000 and in Bern 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 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 to string quartet playing from helicopters above the concert hall.

In 2019 the Dutch National Opera 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, Holland Festival, Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and the Stockhausen Foundation for Music (Anon. 2019).

• 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) – staged première of the entire opera by Birmingham Opera Company, 22 August 2012, The Argyle Works, Birmingham (Clements 2012); 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 (Stockhausen-Stiftung für Musik 2010; Stockhausen 2011)

• Official Stockhausen biography
• BBC News story on the planned performance in Dresden in 2008
• Licht website (archive from 1 April 2016).