''Gılgameş'' ( Op. 65) is an

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

in three acts and twelve scenes composed by

Ahmed Adnan Saygun Ahmet Adnan Saygun (; 7 September 1907 – 6 January 1991) was a Turkish composer, musicologist and writer on music. One of a group of composers known as the Turkish Five who pioneered western classical music in Turkey, his works show a master ...

to a Turkish-language

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

by . The opera, based on the ''

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh ...

'' was composed from 1964 to 1983, but premiered in an early version in 1970. The work had its origins in an opera of the same name by

Nevit Kodallı Nevit Kodallı (12 December 1924, Mersin – 1 September 2009, Mersin) was a Turkish composer of western-influenced classical music including operas and ballets. In 1948 he travelled to Paris where he studied with Arthur Honegger and Nadia Boulang ...

with a libretto by which was premiered in Ankara in 1964, but Saygun and his librettist were commissioned to rewrite both music and libretto.

References

1970 operas Operas Turkish-language operas Operas by Ahmet Adnan Saygun Operas based on literature Works based on the Epic of Gilgamesh {{opera-stub

See also

References