Mittwoch aus Licht
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Mittwoch aus Licht, opera in a salute, four scenes and a farewell
Commissions
Welt-Parlament: SWR Stuttgart
Orchester-Finalisten: Jan van Vlijmen, Holland Festival
Helikopter Streichquartett: Hans Landesmann, Salzburger Festspiele
Michaelion: Udo Zimmermann, Bayerischen Rundfunks
Composition: 1995-1997
Full-length stage premiere: August 22, 2012, Argyle Works, London 2012 Festival, Birmingham Opera Company, under the musical direction of Kathinka Pasveer.
Publisher: Stockhausen Verlag.
Mittwoch aus Licht is the opera of cooperation, reconciliation and alliance between the three protagonists of Licht. Its element is air, and this has a particular influence on the writing of the four scenes: they are not linked by a narrative plot, but have a common relationship to the idea of unification, which manifests itself in the music itself. The music of Mittwoch, taken as a whole, proposes an opening: the concert hall opens up, spaces are multiplied for the same musical time, and the vision of “flying” music, produced by musicians lifted into the air, is realized.
This new production is scheduled for launch at the end of 2026.
Structure
Opera in one salute, four scenes and a farewell for 9 soloists (flute, basset-horn, trumpet, trombone, string quartet, bass with short-wave receiver), chorus with singing conductor, orchestra (13 instrumentalists-actors), synthesizer player, 2 dancer-mimes, electronic music (tape), sound projection.
Mittwochs-Gruss (Wednesday Salute)
First scene
Welt-Parlament (World Parliament)
Second scene
Orchester-Finalisten (Orchestra Finalists)
Third scene
Helikopter-Streichquartett (Helicopter String Quartet)
Fourth scene
Michaelion
Mittwochs-Abschied (Wednesday Farewell)
