Mittwoch aus Licht Mittwoch aus Licht The four component scenes were separately commissioned and premiered: The staged premiere of "Mittwoch" was given by the Birmingham Opera Company on what would have been the composer's 84th birthday, Wednesday 22 August 2012 at the Argyle Works, a former factory in Digbeth, Birmingham, as part of the London 2012 Festival, with further performances on 23, 24, and 25 August (; ; ). The director was Graham Vick, music director Kathinka Pasveer, designer Paul Brown, lighting Giuseppe di Iorio, and choreography Ron Howell. The production went on to win the 2012 Royal Philharmonic Society Award for Opera
German Unity Day choice to commemorate the reunification could have been the day the Berlin Wall came down: 9 November 1989, which coincided with the anniversary of the proclamation of the German Republic in 1918, and the defeat of Hitler's first coup in 1923. However, 9 November was also the anniversary of the first large-scale Nazi-led pogroms against Jews in 1938 ("Kristallnacht"), so the day was considered inappropriate as a national holiday. (See November 9 in German history.) Therefore, 3 October 1990, the day of the formal reunification, was chosen instead and replaced the "Day of German Unity" on 17 June, the national