compositions

Satyagraha

An opera in three acts for orchestra, chorus and soloists.

1980

180′

Music by Philip Glass. Text adapted from the Bhagavad-Gita. Libretto (Sanskrit) by the composer and Constance DeJong.

CAST:
2S, 2Mz, 2T, Bar, 2B; SATB (large chorus) 3 (pic).3.3(bcl).2/0.0.0.0/eorg/str

COMMISSION:
Commissioned by the City of Rotterdam

PREMIERE:
September 5, 1980 in Rotterdam by the Netherlands Opera and the Utrechts Symfonie Orkest, Conducted by Christopher Keene

NOTES:
The second in Glass’ trilogy about men who changed the world, Satyagraha’s sub-text is politics. The opera is semi-narrative in form and deals with Mahatma Gandhi’s early years in South Africa and his development of non-violent protest into a political tool. (“Satyagraha” is a Sanskrit word meaning “truth force”).

The first two acts each contain three scenes; the last is one continuous scene. Each act is dominated by a single historic figure (non-singing role) overlooking the action from above: the Indian poet Ravindranath Tagore in Act I the Russian author Leo Tolstoy in Act II, the American Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr in Act III.

PUBLISHER:
Dunvagen Music Publishers

AVAILABLE SCORES
Satyagraha at MusicRoom.com
Satyagraha Act III - Conclusion at MusicRoom.com
"Trilogy" Sonata for Piano at MusicRoom.com

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RELATED FILMS
Satyagraha by Staatsoper Stuttgart (Dennis Russell Davies, Conductor)

RELATED BOOKS
Sakrales Musiktheater im 20. Jahrhundert: Eine Studie zur Oper "Satyagraha" von Philip Glass. by Michael Altmann
Satyagraha by Constance DeJong and Philip Glass

CATEGORIES
Opera