ONE of Martha Graham's most successful recent works has been ''Acts of Light.'' This was the first time Miss Graham used the music by the Danish composer Carl Nielsen, and the work was commissioned in part in 1981 by Edward H. Michaelsen, a Danish-American business executive who is vice chairman of the Graham Dance Company's board.

Mr. Michaelsen has been a prime mover again in a new commission with a Scandinavian flavor. ''Tangled Night,'' Miss Graham's latest work was given its world premiere by her company Wednesday night at the City Center and the music is the second Piano Concerto by the Norwegian composer, Klaus Egge.

''Acts of Light'' had its premiere at a gala with the Danish diplomatic corps and now ''Tangled Night'' was given at a gala held under auspices of the Norwegian Foundation, which officially commissioned the work.

''Tangled Night'' might be seen as a companion piece to ''Acts of Light,'' which opened the program. Both show Miss Graham treating familiar material but recasting it in a new manner. The ''Danish'' work is almost an abstraction of certain other Graham dances. ''Tangled Night'' returns to a more dramatic vein. Miss Graham has done wonders with a fine score that is not inherently danceable and her imagery and movement have the typical Graham moments of truth despite some weak spots.

These have to do with the choreography for the hero and a somewhat schematic treatment of the subject -man's search for an ideal and the unknown. The hero's role is danced, nonetheless, by Donlin Foreman with his usual commitment to form and power of characterization.

The stars of the show are Christine Dakin - a bewitching sea goddess, a Norwegian mermaid and temptress with a marvelous head of snaky green hair - and a stunning sculptural abstraction of a sailing ship by the distinguished designer, Ming Cho Lee.

The idea of a ''Norwegian'' work came from Mr. Michaelsen and another Danish-American member of the board, Neel Halpern. Whatever the Scandinavian pretext, one has only to read the program note to recognize the piece as being pure Graham. That note comes from the choreographer's favorite poet, St. John Perse, and reads as follows: ''The Sea, woven in us, to the last weaving of its tangled night, the Sea, in us weaving its great hours of light and its great trails of darkness - ''

Miss Graham has used sea voyages before as metaphors for life's quest. Here, she combines a tough and turbulent style with a romantic motif. The seafaring hero is torn between the sea goddess and his desperate wife, whose pain upon parting is evident. The two women engage in a duel over the hero.

The image of women and men on the eve of a departure is expanded upon by couples in the ensemble. There are some earthy and ingenious passages as the couples rock together, feet flexed in Breughel-like imagery of simple folk accepting their destiny.

The hero is more tormented. We see him first crouching by Mr. Lee's beautiful driftwood tree in the right corner while the tall ship, an assemblage of crossed pipes and two full-blown sails, stands in the center.

Miss Dakin is the supernatural spirit who tears Mr. Foreman away from reality, the figure of the wife as portrayed by Jacqulyn Buglisi. Miss Dakin moves from the ship and places a spear on a rack upon which she will perch repeatedly before returning to the attack - until all the men sail away with her as a figurehead held aloft.

Halston has costumed Miss Dakin in a beautiful green sarong of a skirt and the snaky green headdress has an echo in the serpentine design on her torso. Dancing with a surprising mix of exquisite delicacy and aggression that spurts out at unexpected moments, Miss Dakin has a wonderfully conceived role and she performs it superbly.

Miss Graham makes no moral judgments. Miss Dakin, constantly placing herself between the man and wife, insidiously approaches the hero in a gliding bouree, and grapples turbulently in his embrace to turbulent music (Elizabeth Wright was the pianist, Stanley Sussman the conductor) but she is not the personification of evil.