| MONTAG AUS LICHT | ||||
| Greeting MONTAGs- GRUSS |
Act 1 EVAs ERSTGEBURT |
Act 2 EVAs ZWEITGEBURT |
Act 3 EVAs ZAUBER |
Farewell MONTAGs ABSCHIED |
 |
| Act 1's Budgerigar-Boy (now a man) plays a "Conception" piano solo into EVE's womb. (All photos on this page© www.karlheinzstockhausen.org) |
(EVE's Second Birth-Giving) for girls' choir, piano, 7 solo boy singers, 3 basset-horns, 1 singing basset horn, choir (live or tape), 3 synthesizers, percussion, and tape (Sound Scenes), staged with 21 actresses
The Second Act of
MONTAG AUS LICHT (MONDAY from LIGHT)
1984-1987 [66 min]
Also:
No. 57 Extract 1: MÄDCHENPROZESSION (Girls' Procession) version for girls' choir and piano [19']
No. 57 1/2, 2/3 (ie 57.2, 57.3): MÄDCHENPROZESSION, BEFRUCHTUNG mit KLAVIERSTÜCK - WIEDERGEBURT
(Girls' Procession, Conception with Piano Piece / Re-Birth) for girls' choir, piano, synth, perc., tape [27']
No. 57 2/3 Extract 1: KLAVIERSTÜCK XIV (BIRTHDAY-FORMULA of MONDAY from LIGHT) for piano, 1984 [6']
No. 57 3/4 (ie 57.4): EVAs LIED (EVE's Song) for 7 boy soloists, bassett horns, synth, perc., tape [48'30"]
No. 57 3/4 Extract 1: DIE 7 LIEDER DER TAGE (The 7 Songs of the Days) for soloist and chordal instrument (voice w. piano, etc...) [9']
No. 57 3/4 Extract 2: WOCHENKREIS (Circle of the Week) for basset-horn and synthesizer [25'30"]
Introduction
EVAs ZWEITGEBURT (EVE's Second Birth-Giving) is the 2nd Scene of Stockhausen's dramatic music work MONTAG AUS LICHT (MONDAY from LIGHT), which was the 3rd-composed entry of his 7-part, 29-hour opera cycle LICHT (LIGHT). LICHT is a work for acoustic and electronic operatic forces, divided into the 7 days of the week (one opera for each day). This opera cycle revolves around 3 archetype characters, MICHAEL, EVE and LUCIFER, and over the 29 hours each of these characters are introduced, come into conflict, face temptation and finally come into union. The music is almost entirely based on a "super-formula", which is a 3-layered melodic-thematic representation of the 3 characters. These formula-themes are together and separately threaded throughout the opera's vocal and instrumental fabric. Story-wise, actors and narrative can (and often do) change from scene to scene, and the libretto text is sometimes made up of non-traditional grammar (or even purely phonetic sounds).
MONTAG (Monday) is EVE's Day and a celebration of birth and the rebirth of humanity. The main element connected with MONTAG is water. The 3 Acts in MONTAG AUS LICHT are EVAs ERSTGEBURT (EVE's First Birth-Giving), EVAs ZWEITGEBURT and EVAs ZAUBER (EVE's Magic), and they are preceded and followed by MONTAG'S GRUSS (Monday Greeting) and MONTAG's ABSCHIED (Monday Farewell) respectively. In EVAs ZWEITGEBURT, a candle-lit girls' procession praises EVE as the Budgerigar-Boy from Act 1 returns to impregnate the giant EVE statue with a piano solo. Afterwards, during "Re-Birth", 7 boys are born. Soon, a "Couer de Basset" appears and with some other soloists seduce the newly arrived boys.
This Act has 4 Scenes:
- MÄDCHENPROZESSION (Girls' Procession)
- BEFRUCHTUNG mit KLAVIERSTÜCK (Conception with Piano Piece)
- WIEDERGEBURT (Re-Birth)
- EVAs LIED (EVE's Song)
- COEUR DE BASSET
- WOCHENKREIS (Circle of the Week)
- BASSETTINEN (Basset Teases)
- INITIATION
Narrative:
The stage production of EVAs ZWEITGEBURT (and for all of MONTAG AUS LICHT for that matter) is very elaborate, and a text synopsis really can't do justice to all of the many rich visual elements. The CD recording is an excellent studio representation of the opera's musical elements and so here I will mainly concentrate on that. The booklet (book, actually) that comes with the MONTAG AUS LICHT CD has much more detailed descriptions, photographs, libretto and score excerpts.
In the descriptions below I sometimes identify a structure as being based on the EVE, MICHAEL or LUCIFER formulas (or Nuclear formulas). These can be seen below.
|
|
|
(Girls' Procession) On a frozen shore, women are hacking at ice blocks. Suddenly the lights go out in a power failure. 3 groups of girls approach the stage in lily blossom costumes, lighting the stage with their hand-held candles. They sing a song of praise and thanks to EVE, and ask her to give birth to more musical human beings. Text excerpts: "EVE Mother we your children jubilate: Wonderful is the creator of women...the painter of her colors...the sculptor of her forms... MONDAY from LIGHT: Ceremony for Thanksgiving to God...a musical celebration for EVE who, in our universe, for our Earth, is the loving helper for the rebirth of mankind.... We sing to move you, to continue to help us, to procreate healthier, more beautiful, more musical human beings. Deliver, give birth EVE, found a new paradise of children." |
|||||||
| Trk | Dur. | Title | Girls' choir | 3 Synthesizers, Percussion | Tape | ||
| 1 | 1:47 | "Luna - meer - Samudra.." |
Synths play drone textures |
Mixed Choir: SA: 2-part melody, TB: overtone drones Lights go out, confused crew calls out "Main switch! Where’s the flashlight?" (not on CD) |
|||
| 2 | 1:21 | "EVE mother, we your children jubilate." | (Girls' choir enters with
candles) 9-part girls' choir sings rhythms in 3/4 against 4/4 (actually triple meter against duple meter) throughout Scenes 1 - 3. Includes tongue clicks, whispered tones |
Synths independently
play sets of 6-7 pitches as "sparkling points", as well as
a low drone on G Percussion plays intermittently with girls' choir |
female choir
groups sing continuous drone (E, Bb, F#) |
||
| 3 | 0:54 | "the artist of her organs..." | Includes accented drones, rolled vowels, "wet" consonant sounds | ||||
| 4 | 0:48 | "MONDAY from LIGHT" | Includes voiceless colored noise (aleatory rhythm), combination timbre of tongue clicks, kissing noises, whispers, toneless voice with a rising/falling gliss figure | ||||
| 5 | 1:09 | "Ceremony of admiration for the woman" | Includes sequences of rising/falling noise glissandi, modulating vowel-drones | ||||
| 6 | 1:01 | "Who in our Universe..." | Includes combination timbres of whispering-whistled notes, breathing rhythms, half-voiced (mysteriously), ending in a rising accent gliss, "EVA, akka, esa, jana" | ||||
| 7 | 1:00 | "We sing to you EVE" | Head voice/mouth closed - increasing density (staccato/legato sub-division) | ||||
| 8 | 2:20 | "EVA, MONDEVA, INANNA" | More complex individual group sub-divisions (layering, solos, etc…), dynamic modulation, ending on rolled vowels | ||||
(Conception with Piano Piece) The women call forth the now-grown Budgerigar-Boy from the first Act, who arrives playing a stretched-out grand piano and parks it between the giant EVE's legs. The pianist plays a solo accompanied by the humming of the lily blossom girls. The piano part can be performed independently as KLAVIERSTÜCK XIV (GEBURTSTAGS-FORMEL). |
|||||||
| Trk | Dur. | Title | Girls' choir in 9 parts | Piano, 3 Synthesizers | Tape | ||
| 9 | 1:17 | "Come, Aimard!" | Come Amant! ("lover" in French, or "Aimard", the pianist's name in the recording) Fertilize EVE for the 2nd Birth-giving! |
Synths 2 & 3 drone on G, F#
throughout |
Sound Scene 16: Zoo birdhouse, parakeet, audience laughter, band (at 0:34) |
||
| 10 | 4:59 | Klavierstück (Piano piece) | Girls' choir and Synth 1 elaborate on the MICHAEL formula using wordless text. | Pianist ("penist"?) performs (sometimes with
voice or playing piano strings) an elaboration on the EVE, MICHAEL and LUCIFER formulas (some E/L fragments are inverted). "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, sex!" |
|||
| Scene
3 - WIEDERGEBURT (Re-Birth) The bird-pianist drives away and the women begin boiling water. 7 boys are born, each named for a day of the week (Monday-boy, Tuesday-boy, etc...) Text excerpts: "EVE mother, we your children entreat: give us a Monday-boy...(etc..)." "Thank you Mother of the World for the second birth from LIGHT." |
|||||
| Trk | Dur. | Title | Girls' choir in 9 parts | 3 Synthesizers | Tape |
| 11 | 0:44 | Baby - "Lun mun dun..." | Girls' and taped female choir (and Synth 1) sing lively harmony in rhythm with Indian drums | Synths 2, 3 drone on G, F# throughout | Sound Scene 17: baby gurgle, laughter, Indian drum dance |
| 12 | 0:30 | Synthesizer Prelude | Female laughter | Synths play drone and then brief harmony figure | |
| 13 | 0:29 | Monday Boy | Repetition of beginning of Trk 2
("Eve mother, we your children jubilate") with some additional vocal colorations (A boy is born at the end of each section.) |
Synth 1 shadows the
girls' choir Synths 2 and 3 play supportive held chords, sometimes with glissandi |
|
| 14 | 0:11 | Tuesday Boy | Repetition of beginning of Trk 3 with ending shouts | ||
| 15 | 0:13 | Wednesday Boy | Repetition of beginning of Trk 4 with ending hummed glissandi harmony | ||
| 16 | 0:34 | Thursday Boy | Repetition of beginning and ending of Trk 5 with some variations | ||
| 17 | 0:19 | Friday Boy | Harmony with some "yodeled" leaps | ||
| 18 | 0:31 | Saturday Boy | Repetition of 2nd half of Trk 7 with some rhythmic sub-division | ||
| 19 | 1:25 | "...procreate...Sunday children..." | Repetition of Trk 8 ("Eva, Mondeva, Inanna") |
||
| 20 | 0:47 | "Thank you Mother of the World" | Girls' choir and synths are united in a harmony figure | ||
EVA's LIED features the LICHT super-formula with its 19 measures divided into 7 sections, one for each day of the week.
 |
A Coeur de Bassett (basset horn player) in the shape of a heart emerges from the giant EVE's chest. She teaches each boy a song (each day of the week has it's own song). 3 more versions of EVE's basset horn players emerge from the giant EVE statue (from each breast and its womb). They are named Busi, Busa and Muschi. The play with the boys seductively. At the same time a giant, standing EVE-spirit begins to light up. During INITIATION the standing EVE figure begins to dance. Eventually the 7 boys, the basset horn players and the giant EVE-spirit all disappear behind the sitting EVE statue, as playful erotic noises fade away. Text sample from WOCHENKREIS songs: "MONDAY - moonlight (hot is the start of the week...) - EVE-day - birth of the Children...rushing, courage, green silver-green - Soprano - water - smelling...Ceremony and Magic" "TUESDAY - Mars-light (bang! bang!) Day of War LUCIFER-MICHAEL - Yelling, bravery, Red - Trumpet and Trombone...(etc...)" |
|||||||
| Trk | Dur. | Title | Boy Soloists, basset horns, soprano soloist (with basset horn) | 3 Synthesizers | Tape | ||
| 21 | 3:44 | COEUR DE BASSET | After Sound Scene 18, and a synthesizer overture, "Coeur", a basset horn figure, plays EVE nuclear tones (mostly head motif) using microtonal interval scales and intermittent "yodeled" leaps |
Synths 1 & 2 play polyphonic material derived from the LICHT super-formula, sometimes with bubbling or sizzling timbres. Synth 3 plays varying "dreamy" drone timbres and a few subtle figures (intermittent percussion strikes) |
Sound Scene 18: "Oh
EVE!", ship's horn, clock-chime |
||
| 22 | 0:41 | WOCHENKREIS (DIE 7 LIEDER DER TAGE): Monday Prelude | In the Preludes,
songs and interludes, Coeur plays measures from the EVE, MICHAEL
and LUCIFER formulas assigned to that day, but in different sequences for each
day. For example, in Monday Song 1,
the sequence is EVE's 1st 3 measures, then MICHAEL'S 1st 3 measures, and then
LUCIFER's 1st 3 measures. In the Tuesday group, the order in Song 1 is MICHAEL's 4th & 5th measures, LUCIFER's 4th & 5th measures, and then EVE's 4th & 5th measures. The other Songs for each Day follow suit. In the 2nd Song of each Day, a boy soloist "learns" the basset horn's part, and the basset horn takes on a supportive role. In this process, the Coeur de Basset traverses all 3 layers the LICHT super-formula, and each boy learns his day's super-formula layers. |
Sound Scene 19: Baby, whistle, explosion, cuckoo clock | |||
| 23 | 0:45 | Monday Song 1 | During Preludes, female choir chords (tape) surface from time to time | ||||
| 24 | 0:44 | Monday Song 2 | |||||
| 25 | 0:41 | Tuesday Prelude | |||||
| 26 | 0:34 | Tuesday Song 1 | |||||
| 27 | 0:14 | Tuesday Interlude | Sound Scene 20: man shouts, shots, woman laughs | ||||
| 28 | 0:32 | Tuesday Song 2 | |||||
| 29 | 0:50 | Wednesday Prelude | |||||
| 30 | 0:37 | Wednesday Song 1 | |||||
| 31 | 0:42 | Wednesday Song 2 | |||||
| 32 | 0:34 | Thursday Prelude | Sound Scene 21: Cuckoo Clock (5 strikes), car race, door slam, seal bark | ||||
| 33 | 0:43 | Thursday Song 1 | |||||
| 34 | 0:38 | Thursday Song 2 | |||||
| 35 | 0:28 | Friday Prelude | |||||
| 36 | 0:48 | Friday Song 1 | |||||
| 37 | 0:51 | Friday Interlude | |||||
| 38 | 0:49 | Friday Song 2 | |||||
| 39 | 0:15 | Saturday Prelude | |||||
| 40 | 0:44 | Saturday Song 1 | |||||
| 41 | 0:22 | Saturday Interlude | |||||
| 42 | 0:42 | Saturday Song 2 | |||||
| 43 | 0:41 | Sunday Prelude | Sound Scene 22: Car, "Take
seven", "Well, well", heartbeats (at 0:23) |
||||
| 44 | 1:03 | Sunday Song 1 | |||||
| 45 | 1:14 | Sunday Interlude | |||||
| 46 | 1:08 | Sunday Song 2 | |||||
| 47 | 1:29 | BASSETTINEN (Basset-Teases) | As Coeur navigates through the formulas (sometimes with inverted and/or backwards fragments), each boy sings a brief figure from their song (from Monday to Sunday), with Sunday having all 7 boys contribute. Coeur intermittently plays synchronously with the boy soloist. | Sound Scene 23: Dog howls,
plates, dog bark, barrel-organ |
|||
| 48 | 1:26 | Busi Arrives | "Busi", another basset horn arrives and plays in parallel with Coeur. Mon thru Friday boys sing and then together: "BUSI!...". | ||||
| 49 | 3:03 | Busa Arrives | "Busa", another basset horn plays in parallel with Busi and Coeur (and then duo with Coeur). Monday thru Thursday boys sing and then together: "BUSA!...", then after Sound Scene 24, Mon-Wed, then again in harmony, sometimes clapping. | Sound Scene 24: 2 train toots,
explosion, fairground music (at 1:23) |
|||
| 50 | 3:34 | Muschi Appears | "Muschi" arrives, who sings (sometimes using her basset horn as a resonating tube) with Coeur and Busi, and then later Busa joining. The boys greet "MUSCHI!..." | ||||
| 51 | 1:46 | INITIATION | The basset horns (with
Muschi singing through her basset horn), 7 boys and Synths 1 & 2 play a
harmony phrase structure. Synth 3 elaborates on the LUCIFER formula in a low, vocal timbre. |
Sound Scene 25: Orchestrion (orchestral pipe organ), sea lion, water splashing, duck, baby crying, sheep | |||
| 52 | 0:39 | Monday Dance | Each Song of the Week is reinterpreted as a layered harmony featuring Muschi in
the lead voice (supported by the basset horns) and the 7 boys singing longer
figures. The Sunday Dance features fragmented conversation between Busi, Busa, Muschi as Coeur and the boys sing longer held tones. The scene ends with playful "erotic" sounds (Muschi: "You little piglet!", Boy: "Turn off the lights!") and a slowing horn tremolo. |
Synths 1 and 2 play a
variety of figures and structures (probably from the EVE and/or MICHAEL
formulas). Synth 3 continues the LUCIFER formula, forwards, then (semi-) backwards, then forwards, etc…, at the same time playing an extremely slow rising gliss. |
Sound Scene 26: pig squeals,
woman laughs (at 0:16) |
||
| 53 | 0:44 | Tuesday Dance | |||||
| 54 | 0:38 | Wednesday Dance | |||||
| 55 | 0:49 | Thursday Dance | Sound Scene 27: Man & woman erotic gasps, fairground bell | ||||
| 56 | 1:23 | Friday Dance | Sound Scene 28: steel scythe is
sharpened, woman calls Sound Scene 29: woman laughs, car door slams, ignition, car brakes screech, (pigs squeal) (at 0:48) |
||||
| 57 | 1:16 | Saturday Dance | Sound Scene 30: Man & woman
erotic moan, pneumatic drill, explosion, "Good God!" (at 0:51) |
||||
| 58 | 5:52 | Sunday Dance | Sound Scene 31: electronic sound
with parrot, parrot laughs, thunder, "Oh my, oh my!" (at 1:10) |
||||
Score
 |
| MÄDCHEN PROZESSION Pg 1, featuring 9 parts for girls' choir and Synth 2 and 3 parts. The girls' choir is organized in 3 groups, Right, Middle, Left (1, 2, 3). (my coloring, not original) (score© www.karlheinzstockhausen.org) |
 |
| "Monday Song" for High voice and piano (or other chordal instrument) (score© www.karlheinzstockhausen.org) |
Notes on some extracts:
DIE 7 LIEDER DER TAGE (The 7
Songs of the Days) No. 57 3/4 Extract 1 for soloist and chordal
instrument [9']
WOCHENKREIS (Circle of the Week) No. 57 3/4 Extract 2 for basset-horn and synthesizer [25'30"]
DIE 7 LIEDER DER TAGE includes the 7 songs of the week only. WOCHENKREIS includes all sections from the beginning of EVAs LIED to before BASSETTINEN, and adds an exit section.
Sound Impressions
In the second Act of MONTAG AUS LICHT, a sudden return to primitivism seems to occur when the electricity goes out and the stage is lit only with candles, as a ritualistic procession moves up the aisles. The girls' choir is yet another beautiful choral work in MONTAG, and the 3 against 4 nature of the rhythms continues a structural concept from the opposing shapes of the previous act's Boy's Hullabaloo. The "conception" piano solo is a fine melding of unique textures, as there are not very many works for piano and children's choir. It has some structural similarity to KLAVIERSTÜCK XIII "LUCIFER's Dream", but is much more concise and gets "down to business" so to speak.
WOCHENKREIS generates a new set of lively songs which I think have as much life as independent songs as TIERKREIS does away from MUSIK IM BAUCH. The 7 songs are each lots of fun and are perfectly fit for children to sing. INITIATION features an alluring vocal for soprano which has many fascinating colorations and is a wonderful showcase for Kathinka Pasveer's singing skills. At this point in MONTAG, the synthesizers also take on a more prominent role, and I would someday be curious to hear some sections of EVE's Song as electronic parts separate from the opera (perhaps as study tracks for 3 keyboardists). The interaction between the 4 incarnations of EVE as COEUR, BUSI, BUSA and MUSCHI are weaved together in a fascinating layering of wind and voice instruments. In the final section of EVE's Song, the forces become quite entangled, but yet still imply a certain kind of harmoniousness. Just as in Act 1's First Birth-Giving, there is alot of humor laced throughout these acts, but in a somewhat more innocent, child-like way than in the earlier Act.
The score also describes very precise hand gestures for each of the boy soloists, as well as many descriptions of color and lighting changes which unfortunately can't be experienced on an audio recording. The stage set is also decorated with many additional glass "chemistry lab" vials and tubes, which are used to collect water from the boiling steam and use it to grow a beautiful grass lawn by the end of the Act. "Stockhausen - Lichtwerke", a color documentary on the making of MONTAG AUS LICHT (available on DVD) has many scene excerpts from EVAs ZWEITGEBURT (and the other Acts as well). A lower quality, slightly edited version is also on YouTube.
The score also describes very precise hand gestures for each of the boy soloists, as well as many descriptions of color and lighting changes which unfortunately can't be experienced on an audio recording. The stage set is also decorated with many additional glass "chemistry lab" vials and tubes, which are used to collect water from the boiling steam and use it to grow a beautiful grass lawn by the end of the Act. "Stockhausen - Lichtwerke", a color documentary on the making of MONTAG AUS LICHT (available on DVD) has many scene excerpts from EVAs ZWEITGEBURT (and the other Acts as well). A lower quality, slightly edited version is also on YouTube.
Links
Sound samples and CD ordering
