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 ChesterNovello.com
• Satyagraha Act III - Conclusion at ChesterNovello.com
• Satyagraha (full score) at MusicRoom.com
• Satyagraha Act III for Organ at MusicRoom.com
• "Trilogy" Sonata for Piano at MusicRoom.com

RELATED RECORDINGS:

• Circles on Materiali Sonori
• Glass Cage on Arabesque Recordings
• Glass Masters on Sony Masterworks
• Glass Organ Works on Catalyst
• Obras Maestras / Oeuvres Majeures on Sony
• Music for Organ on Nimbus
• The Orphée Suite for Piano on Orange Mountain Music
• Satyagraha on Sony Masterworks
• Songs from the Trilogy on Sony Masterworks
• Songs on Sony Classical
• The Essential Philip Glass on Sony Masterworks
• Music from The Hours (Solo Piano) on Orange Mountain Music
• The Hours on Nonesuch
• Trivium on ECM New Series
• Philip Glass: Up Close on Orange Mountain Music

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