Editing Karlheinz Stockhausen (section)

===1977–2003===

{{Main|Licht}}
Between 1977 and 2003, Stockhausen composed seven operas in a cycle titled ''[[Licht|Licht: Die sieben Tage der Woche]]'' ("Light: The Seven Days of the Week").{{sfn|Maconie|2005|loc=403–544}} The ''Licht'' cycle deals with the traits associated in various historical traditions with each weekday (Monday = birth and fertility, Tuesday = conflict and war, Wednesday = reconciliation and cooperation, Thursday = traveling and learning, etc.) and with the relationships between three archetypal characters: [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]], [[Lucifer]], and [[Adam and Eve|Eve]].{{sfn|Kohl|1983–84b|loc=489}}{{sfn|Stockhausen ''Texte''|loc=6:152–156, 175, 200–201}} Each of these characters dominates one of the operas (''Donnerstag'' [Thursday], ''Samstag'' [Saturday], and ''Montag'' [Monday], respectively), the three possible pairings are foregrounded in three others, and the equal combination of all three is featured in ''Mittwoch'' (Wednesday).{{sfn|Kohl|1990|loc=274}}

Stockhausen's conception of opera was based significantly on ceremony and ritual, with influence from the Japanese [[Noh]] theatre,{{sfn|Stockhausen, Conen, and Hennlich|1989|loc=282}} as well as [[Judeo-Christian]] and [[Vedic mythology|Vedic]] traditions.{{sfn|Bruno|1999|loc=134}} In 1968, at the time of the composition of ''Aus den sieben Tagen'', Stockhausen had read a biography by [[Satprem]] about the Bengali guru [[Sri Aurobindo]],{{sfn| Guerrieri|2009}} and subsequently he also read many of the published writings by Aurobindo himself. The title of ''Licht'' owes something to Aurobindo's theory of "[[Agni]]" (the Hindu and Vedic fire deity), developed from two basic premises of nuclear physics; Stockhausen's definition of a formula and, especially, his conception of the ''Licht'' superformula, also owes a great deal to Sri Aurobindo's category of the "supramental".{{sfn|Peters|2003|loc=227}} Similarly, his approach to voice and text sometimes departed from traditional usage: Characters were as likely to be portrayed by instrumentalists or dancers as by singers, and a few parts of ''Licht'' (e.g., ''Luzifers Traum'' from ''Samstag'', ''Welt-Parlament'' from ''Mittwoch'', ''Lichter-Wasser'' and ''Hoch-Zeiten'' from ''Sonntag'') use written or improvised texts in simulated or invented languages.{{sfn|Kohl|1983–84b|loc=499}}{{sfn|Moritz|2005}}{{sfn|Stockhausen|1999|loc=18–25}}{{sfn|Stockhausen|2001b|loc=20}}{{sfn|Stockhausen|2003|loc=20}}

The seven operas were not composed in "weekday order" but rather starting (apart from ''Jahreslauf'' in 1977, which became the first act of ''Dienstag'') with the "solo" operas and working toward the more complex ones: ''Donnerstag'' (1978–80), ''Samstag'' (1981–83), ''Montag'' (1984–88), ''Dienstag'' (1977/1987–91), ''Freitag'' (1991–94), ''Mittwoch'' (1995–97), and finally ''Sonntag'' (1998–2003).{{sfn|Stockhausen-Verlag|2010|loc=3–7, 26–48}}

Stockhausen had dreams of flying throughout his life, and these dreams are reflected in the ''[[Helikopter-Streichquartett]]'' (the third scene of ''Mittwoch aus Licht''), completed in 1993. In it, the four members of a [[string quartet]] perform in four [[helicopter]]s flying independent flight paths over the countryside near the concert hall. The sounds they play are mixed together with the sounds of the helicopters and played through speakers to the audience in the hall. Videos of the performers are also transmitted back to the concert hall. The performers are synchronized with the aid of a [[click track]], transmitted to them and heard over headphones.{{sfn|Stockhausen|1996c|loc=215}}

The first performance of the piece took place in Amsterdam on 26 June 1995, as part of the [[Holland Festival]].{{sfn|Stockhausen| 1996c|loc=216}} Despite its extremely unusual nature, the piece has been given several performances, including one on 22 August 2003 as part of the [[Salzburg Festival]] to open the Hangar-7 venue,{{sfn|Stockhausen-Verlag|2010|loc=7}} and the German première on 17 June 2007 in [[Braunschweig]] as part of the Stadt der Wissenschaft 2007 Festival.{{sfn|Stockhausen-Stiftung|2007}} The work has also been recorded by the [[Arditti Quartet]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=STOCKHAUSEN: Helicopter String Quartet - Arditti Quartet (DVD) |url=https://www.classicselectworld.com/products/stockhausen-helicopter-string-quartet-arditti-quartet |access-date=2024-06-12 |website=ClassicSelect World |language=en}}</ref>

In 1999 he was invited by [[Walter Fink]] to be the ninth composer featured in the annual [[Rheingau Musik Festival#Portraits of living composers|Komponistenporträt]] of the [[Rheingau Musik Festival]].{{sfn|Rheingau Musik Festival|2017}}

In 1999, [[BBC]] producer Rodney Wilson asked Stockhausen to collaborate with [[Brothers Quay|Stephen and Timothy Quay]] on a film for the fourth series of Sound on Film International. Although Stockhausen's music had been used for films previously (most notably, parts of [[Hymnen]] in [[Nicolas Roeg]]'s ''[[Walkabout (film)|Walkabout]]'' in 1971), this was the first time he had been asked to provide music specially for the purpose. He adapted 21 minutes of material taken from his electronic music for ''Freitag aus Licht'', calling the result ''Zwei Paare'' (Two Couples), and the Brothers Quay created their animated film, which they titled ''[[In Absentia (film)|In Absentia]]'', based only on their reactions to the music and the simple suggestion that a window might be an idea to use.{{sfn|Anon.|2001}} When, at a preview screening, Stockhausen saw the film, which shows a madwoman writing letters from a bleak asylum cell, he was moved to tears. The Brothers Quay were astonished to learn that his mother had been "imprisoned by the Nazis in an asylum, where she later died. ... This was a very moving moment for us as well, especially because we had made the film without knowing any of this".{{sfn|Aita|2001}}