Friday night’s performance was devoted to passages from “Donnerstag aus Licht,” which is focused on Stockhausen’s trumpet-playing, tenor-voice character Michael. In the first act of “Donnerstag,” after the trials of early youth, Michael auditions to enter the “advanced school of music,” in front of jurors who are versions of Eve and Lucifer, the cycle’s other primary mythic figures. (Earlier in the act, they also embody Michael’s parents.) The piano has a significant role in Stockhausen’s scoring for the examination scene, so it makes sense that he would adapt the scene for his “Klavierstücke” series. As a stand-alone work, it’s the 12th item in that series, and not played or recorded as often as some earlier Stockhausen piano solos.

Source: New York Times June 01, 2019 16:30 UTC