''Satyagraha'' (;

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

सत्याग्रह, ''satyāgraha'' "insistence on truth") is a 1979

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 libr ...

in three acts for orchestra, chorus and soloists, composed by

Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...

, with a

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. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major li ...

by Glass and Constance DeJong. Loosely based on the life of

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

, it forms the second part of Glass's "Portrait Trilogy" of operas about men who changed the world, which also includes ''

Einstein on the Beach ''Einstein on the Beach'' is an opera in four acts composed by Philip Glass and directed by theatrical producer Robert Wilson, who also collaborated with Glass on the work's libretto. The opera eschews traditional narrative in favor of a formali ...

'' and '' Akhnaten''. Glass's style can broadly be described as

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post– World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Do ...

. The work is scored for 2

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...

s, 2

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middl ...

s, 2

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

s, a

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the ...

, 2

basses Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass ...

, a large

SATB SATB is an initialism that describes the scoring of compositions for choirs, and also choirs (or consorts) of instruments. The initials are for the voice types: S for soprano, A for alto, T for tenor and B for bass. Choral music Four-part harm ...

chorus, and an orchestra of strings and

woodwinds Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...

only, no

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wi ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

. Principal roles are Sonja Schlesin, Mahatma Gandhi,

Hermann Kallenbach Hermann Kallenbach (1 March 1871 – 25 March 1945) was a Lithuanian-born Jewish South African architect who was one of the foremost friends and associates of Mahatma Gandhi. Kallenbach was introduced to the young Mohandas Gandhi while they were b ...

and Parsi Rustomji. The title refers to Gandhi's concept of

nonviolent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

resistance to injustice,

Satyagraha Satyagraha ( sa, सत्याग्रह; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone wh ...

, and the text, from the ''

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' ( ...

'', is sung in the original

. In performance, translation is usually provided in

supertitles Surtitles, also known as supertitles, SurCaps, OpTrans, are translated or transcribed lyrics/dialogue projected above a stage or displayed on a screen, commonly used in opera, theatre or other musical performances. The word "surtitle" comes from ...

Roles

Performance history

''Satyagraha'' was commissioned by the city of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...

, Netherlands, and first performed at the (Municipal Theatre) there on September 5, 1980, by the

Netherlands Opera The Dutch National Opera (DNO; formerly De Nederlandse Opera, now De Nationale Opera in Dutch) is a Dutch opera company based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Its present home base is the Dutch National Opera & Ballet housed in the Stopera building, a ...

, featuring the choir of the

Rotterdam Conservatory Codarts University for the Arts ( nl, Codarts hogeschool voor de kunsten) is a Dutch vocational university in Rotterdam that teaches music, dance and circus. It was established in its present location in 2000. History Codarts can trace its origin ...

and the , conducted by . The opera premiered in North America at the Artpark in Lewiston, New York, on July 29, 1981. That production was mounted later that year at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The opera was also staged that same year by the Stuttgart Opera (which went on to perform the complete trilogy in 1990); this production was taped during its revival in 1983 and released on video. The Lyric Opera of Chicago presented the first production by a major international opera company on September 28, 1987, at the Civic Opera House. Douglas Perry sang the role of Gandhi. The UK premiere was a joint production by

Bath Spa University Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshire. The inst ...

and

Frome Community College Frome Community College, styled as Frome College, is a comprehensive school in Frome, Somerset, England for students aged 13 to 18. Approximately 1,200 were enrolled in December 2021, within the three tier system. Students' studies at the colle ...

in the theatre of Kingswood School in Bath in 1997. Performance by

San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 when h ...

at the War Memorial Opera House in 1989 staged a new production of the opera in 2004 at the

Theater Bonn Theater Bonn (also known as the Stadttheater Bonn) is the municipal theatre company of Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is an organization that produces operas, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts. It operates several performance venu ...

, Germany, with a revival in 2013, with

Ulrich Windfuhr Ulrich Windfuhr (born 1960) is a German conductor. Life Born in Heidelberg, Windfuhr grew up as the son of the Heine researcher and editor , first in his hometown and later in Düsseldorf. From 1978 Windfuhr studied orchestral conducting in ...

conducting the

Beethoven Orchester Bonn The Beethoven Orchester Bonn is a German symphony orchestra based in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia. It dates back to 1907, when a professional orchestra was established. Named for Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born in Bonn, the orchestra's princ ...

. A new staging by the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

and

Improbable theatre Improbable is an English theatre company founded in 1996 by Lee Simpson, Phelim McDermott, Julian Crouch (artistic directors) and producer Nick Sweeting. Improbable is funded by Arts Council England in London. According to their statement: "Impr ...

, co-produced by the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is opera ...

, opened in London in April 2007 and in New York in April 2008. It was revived in London in February 2010 and in New York in November 2011; the New York performance on November 19 was part of the Met Opera: Live in HD series. It aired on

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is p ...

from PBS in 2012, Season 39 Episode 19 on March 22 and March 25. The Metropolitan Opera's 2011 production was streamed online on June 21 and November 1, 2020. On September 16, 2014, a new production was staged at the

Ekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...

State Academic Opera in Russia. The creative team included

Thaddeus Strassberger Thaddeus Strassberger (born 1976) is an American, Italian and Cherokee Nation citizen who works as an opera director and scenic, costume, lighting and video designer in over fifteen countries around the world Biography Born to parents of Cherokee, ...

(direction and scenic design), Mattie Ullrich (costume design) and

Oliver von Dohnányi Oliver von Dohnányi (born 2 March 1955) is a Slovak conductor based in Prague, Czech Republic. He is currently serving as the music director of the Ural Opera House in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Dohnányi was born in Trenčín, Czechoslovakia (now ...

(conductor). A new production by

Folkoperan Folkoperan is an opera house in Stockholm, Sweden, at Hornsgatan 72 in the southern district of Södermalm. It is one of Stockholm's most successful opera houses in terms of audience attendance, and is considered Sweden's most important stage fo ...

and Cirkus Cirkör, directed by and conducted by Matthew Wood premiered at the

Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...

's Harvey Theater on October 31, 2018. On 18 November 2018,

Vlaamse Opera The Vlaamse Opera (Flemish Opera) is an opera company in Belgium directed by Jan Vandenhouwe which operates in two different opera houses in two Flemish cities, the Vlaamse Opera Antwerp at Van Ertbornstraat 8 and the Vlaamse Opera Ghent at Schouwbu ...

premiered a production by director and choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, together with stage designer Henrik Ahr and costume designer Jan-Jan Van Essche

Synopsis

The opera is in three acts, each referencing a major related cultural figure.

Act 1

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

* On the

Kuru Kuru may refer to: Anthropology and history * Kuru (disease), a type of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy associated with the cannibalistic funeral practices of the Fore people * Kuru (mythology), part of Meithei mythology * Kuru Kingdom, ...

Field of Justice * Tolstoy Farm (1910) * The Vow (1906)

Act 2

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

* Confrontation and Rescue (1896) * Indian Opinion (1906) * Protest (1908)

Act 3

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...

*The Newcastle March (1913)

Recordings

* Sheryl Woods (Mrs. Naidoo), Douglas Perry (M.K. Gandhi); Christopher Keene (Conductor),

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through 2013 (when it filed for bankruptcy), and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, du ...

orchestra and chorus. 1984 (Sony) * D. Anzolini;

orchestra and chorus. 2021 (Orange Machine Music)

References

External links

*
''Satyagraha''
at PhilipGlass.com
"The Truth Force at the Met"

Daniel Mendelsohn Daniel Mendelsohn (born 1960), is an American author, essayist, critic, columnist, and translator. Best known for his internationally best-selling and award-winning Holocaust family memoir The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million, he is current ...

's review of ''Satyagraha'' from ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

''
"В Екатеринбурге поставили «Сатьяграху»"
(Ekaterinburg presents ''Satyagraha'') by Gyulyara Sadiq-zade, ''

Vedomosti ''Vedomosti'' ( rus, Ведомости, p=ˈvʲedəməsʲtʲɪ, ) is a Russian-language business daily newspaper published in Moscow. History ''Vedomosti'' was founded in 1999 as a joint venture between Dow Jones, who publishes ''The Wall ...

'', 18 September 2014 {{authority control 1980 operas Cultural depictions of Mahatma Gandhi Minimalist operas Operas Operas set in the 20th century Operas set in India Operas based on real people Operas by Philip Glass Philip Glass albums Political operas Sanskrit-language operas