Karlheinz Stockhausen
Evas Zweitgeburt

Seven reviews for the seven days of the week: today it's Monday from Light's turn.

The most interesting aspect, from a musical point of view, of the third opera in the Licht cycle is the transition from traditional instrumentation to what Stockhausen defines as the modern orchestra. This includes the use of synthesizers and samplers; multitrack tapes with pre-recorded instrumental and vocal ensembles; and soundscapes, i.e., real-life acoustic effects mixed with sounds.

It's a revolution because the overall sound is transformed from the roots, becoming technological; and the most reactionary form of Western music, the opera theater, becomes futuristic.

Monday from Light (Montag aus Licht) is full of these innovations, they are heard everywhere: including the second act of the opera, titled "The Second Birth of Eve" (Evas Zweitgeburt, composed between 1984 and '87). A little over an hour of music in which Stockhausen does not completely abandon traditional sound resources but integrates them with the new ones.

This happens, for example, in the opening scene where the protagonist is a female choir of 35 members: a procession of maidens (10 minutes long) that becomes one of the most beautiful choral pages ever written by the German composer. Or in the next scene, where a grand piano takes center stage, performing a brief solo piece (adding to the mythical series of "Klavierstücke" started in 1952). Or again in the final scene of this second act, where all the solos are assigned to the basset horn, a rather rare wind instrument that Stockhausen associates throughout the seven-day cycle with the character of Eve.

In between, as mentioned, a phantasmagoria of sound effects ranging from a baby's cry to a sheep's bleat, from the heartbeat to the call of the cuckoo. Added to these are the voices of seven soloist children singing live; three performers on synthesizers plus a percussionist who mainly uses electronic instrumentation. And the fusion of all these elements results in a sound amalgam of hypnotic magnetism.

- Montag aus Licht (1984-1988) is the third opera of the cycle dedicated to the days of the week. It consists of three acts plus an instrumental prelude (Monday Greeting) and a conclusion (Farewell). Monday is the day of Eve, represented on stage by three soprano voices. The opera was performed at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in May 1988. The disc edition in 5 CDs is published by Stockhausen-Verlag ("Evas Zweitgeburt" is CD no.3 of this edition).