Sita (opera)

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Opera dates
Title: Sita
Original language: English
Music: Gustav Holst
Libretto : Gustav Holst
Literary source: Mahabharata
people
  • Sita , daughter of the earth ( soprano )
  • Rama , incarnation of Vishnu ( baritone )
  • Lakshmana , his brother ( tenor )
  • Ravana , King of the Rakshasa ( Bass )
  • Maritcha, a chief of the Rakshasa (baritone)
  • The earth ( mezzo-soprano )
  • Surpanakha, sister of Ravana (mezzo-soprano)
  • Choir of the Rakshas (soprano, alto , tenor, bass), Choir of the mortals (tenor, bass), Choir of the earth voices (soprano, alto, hidden)

Sita op. 23 is a three-act opera by Gustav Holst . It is about the Indian goddess Sita .

Emergence

At the beginning of 1905, Holst decided to take part in the Ricordi Milan Competition with the opera Sita , which he had begun in 1899. The plot is based on the Indian national epic Ramayana by the author Valmiki . Holst, who had recently begun to be interested in Indian mythology and had learned Sanskrit specifically for it, also wrote the libretto for Sita .

Holst had to submit a summary of the libretto in advance. Sita was shortlisted from 52 of a total of 191 submitted librettos. When, after completing the first act, his nerves in his arm delayed progress, his friends Sidney Goldsmith , Fritz Hart and Ralph Vaughan Williams helped him with his work. Work on Sita was completed in 1906.

In January 1908, Holst had to learn that his opera had narrowly missed first place in the competition. According to Karl Hart's memories, the award went to Holst's former professor Charles Villiers Stanford . He was given the prospect of a possible publication by Sita . In the spring of 1909 Ricordi decided against a publication.

After his competitive defeat, Holst began to get away from Wagner's dimensions in his style and to restrict his music to the essentials. Accordingly, his next opera, Savitri, is designed as a chamber opera.

literature

  • Michael Short: Gustav Holst - The Man and his Music , Circaidy Gregory Press (first published by Oxford University Press), 1990, new edition 2014

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael Short: Gustav Holst - The Man and his Music , Circaidy Gregory Press (first published by Oxford University Press), 1990, new edition 2014, p. 20
  2. ^ A b Michael Short: Gustav Holst - The Man and his Music , Circaidy Gregory Press (first published by Oxford University Press), 1990, new edition 2014, p. 31
  3. ↑ a b Michael Short: Gustav Holst - The Man and his Music , Circaidy Gregory Press (first published by Oxford University Press), 1990, new edition 2014, pp. 42–43
  4. ↑ Fritz B. Hart: Early Moments of Gustav Holst. In: Royal College of Music Magazine , Volume 39, No. 2, 1943, pp. 43-52, pp. 84-89
  5. ↑ Michael Short: Gustav Holst - The Man and his Music , Circaidy Gregory Press (first published by Oxford University Press), 1990, new edition 2014, p. 49