Dienstag aus Licht

About

Maxime Pascal and his ensemble Le Balcon continue the exploration of Licht de Stockhausen. Dienstag , the second day, is placed under the aegis of Mars, the god of war. A war between the Archangel Michael, hero of the cycle, and Lucifer. If the combat of the archangel and the devil is a well-known biblical painting, Stockhausen treats it in a rather singular way. Moreover, throughout the cycle, the figure of Michael is a projection of the composer himself. According to Maxime Pascal, who is involved with his Ensemble Le Balcon in this integral Licht for the Philharmonie de Paris, "the cosmic and mystical rantings of Stockhausen have nothing to do with megalomaniac delirium, they are more a response to violence traumas he suffered as a child (the death of the father, the mother, the horrors of war). The question of childhood is essential to understand his music: his naivety must be interpreted as positive. He decided to preserve it, without however locking himself into it. »