Stockhausen: Music for a New World + Michael's Journey Round the Earth

Michael's Journey Round the Earth
Monumental Licht (Light), subtitled "The Seven Days of the Week," is a cycle of seven operas composed by Karlheinz Stockhausen which, in total, lasts over 29 hours. Donnerstag is an opera for 14 performers (3 voices, 8 instrumentalists, 3 dancers), choir, an orchestra and tapes. It was the first part of Licht to be written, between 1978 and 1980. Thursday is the day of the archangel Michael, and the story is centered around this character. Michael's Journey Round the Earth is the central act of Donnerstag.

Karlheinz Stockhausen - Musik für eine neue Welt
Stockhausen exploded mid-50th in the public consciousness with a scandalous piece, the "Song of the Youths". The combination of electronically generated sounds and the ethereal vocals of a boy shocked the respectable music lovers. At that time, however, the German composer was already unavoidable on the music scene. For nearly twenty years, he produced a firework of musical innovations. While in academic music circles Stockhausen is important in the field of serial music, he is better known to a wider audience as a pioneer of electronic music. For good reason, the techno-generation recognizes him as their founding father. But while the later generations are looking for the perfect beat, Stockhausen studied the molecular structure of the sounds to find cosmic laws. Deeply influenced by the Second World War, Stockhausen wanted his music to contribute to the ethical and moral renewal of mankind. In the early 1970th, he retired from public life to work until his death (December 5, 2007) on the most monumental piece, the opera cycle Licht. Norbert Buse and Thomas Steinaecker in the documentary “Music for a New World” focus on the relevant data for Stockhausen's glory years. They show the composer as a creative visionary who was coined by fateful early years, his love for women and his irrepressible artistic adventure. The film is not a mere composer's biography, but is a story about a man who could not be anything else but a composer.

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Tracks:
1. Karlheinz Stockhausen: Donnerstag
Act II - Michaels Reise um die Erde - 52 min'
Réalisateur: János Darvas; Costumier: Chu Uroz; Chef d'orchestre: Peter Rundel; Décors: Roland Olbeter; Dramaturge: Thomas Ulrich; Metteur en scène: Carlos Padrissa; Soliste: Nicola Jürgensen
2. Stockhausen - Music for a New World - 52 min'
Directors: Norbert Buse, Thomas Steinaecker

Links: http://rapidshare.com/files/296348935/stockhausen-links.txt

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