Four Saints in Three Acts
Four Saints in Three Acts is an opera composed in 1928 by Virgil Thomson, setting a libretto written in 1927 by Gertrude Stein.[1] It contains about 20 saints and is in at least four acts. It was groundbreaking in form, content, and for its all-black cast, with singers directed by Eva Jessye, a prominent black choral director, and supported by her choir.[2]
Thomson suggested the topic, and the libretto as delivered can be read in Stein's collected works. The opera features two 16th-century Spanish saints—the former mercenary
Synopsis
After the chorus sings a prelude, the first act takes place at the
Cast
The cast of the original production included:
- Edward Matthews as "St Ignatius" (baritone)
- Beatrice Robinson-Wayne as "St Teresa I" (soprano)
- Bruce Howard as "St Teresa II" (contralto)
- Embry Bonner as "St. Chavez" (tenor)
- Bertha Fitzhugh Baker as "St. Settlement" (soprano)
- Randolph Robinson as "St. Plan"
- Abner Dorsey as "the Compère" (bass)
- Altonnell Hines as "the Commere" (mezzo)
- Ruby Greene
- Inez Matthews (Edward Matthews' sister)
- Charles Holland
- The Eva Jessye Choir, led by Eva Jessye
Productions
After its premiere February 7, 1934, at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut,[3]: 99–100 Four Saints in Three Acts opened on Broadway at the 44th Street Theatre February 20, 1934.[4] The opera was notable in defying many traditional aspects of opera. Stein's libretto focused more on an affinity for the sounds of words than on presenting a narrative. Thomson's music was unconventional in its very simplicity. Eva Jessye, a black music pioneer in New York, directed the singers and her choir in the production.[2] The production was directed by John Houseman, who was 31 and who had only recently turned his attention to theater after a career as a speculator in the international grain market.[5]
The sets of the first production, designed by artist Florine Stettheimer, included innovative cellophane backdrops and brilliant pure white lighting, and the costumes (also Stettheimer's) were of colorful lace, silk and taffeta. Frederick Ashton provided the choreography (after George Balanchine turned down the job).
Also considered unusual was the portrayal of the European saints by an all-black cast, for which there was no precedent in American history. These unconventional elements led to a successful and well-received first production.[6] While critics were divided, audiences accepted the fantasy world created by the singers, who vividly conveyed the words and melodies given to their saintly characters.
The opera would be performed later as a concert
There have also been stagings by Robert Wilson and the choreographer Mark Morris, who created a dance piece for it. The involvement of photographers including Lee Miller, Carl Van Vechten, and George Platt Lynes in documenting and representing the opera and its original performances in 1934 is explored in Allmer and Sears' book 4 Saints in 3 Acts: A Snapshot of the American Avant-garde in the 1930s (2017, Manchester University Press) which accompanied an exhibition of photographs and ephemera at The Photographers' Gallery in London in October 2017.
In 2022, a Doxsee Theater production featuring
References
- ISBN 1-883011-40-X
- ^ a b "Eva Jessye", Eva Jessye Collection, African American Music Collection, University of Michigan, accessed December 4, 2008
- ISBN 0-671-21034-3
- ^ "Four Saints in Three Acts". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
- ^ Tommasini (1997) p. 241
- ISBN 0-313-25010-3.
- ^ The New York Times May 28, 1941 P. 32
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ^ "Four Saints in Three Acts - Lucille Lortel Theatre". lortel.org. July 28, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ^ Finkle, David (September 21, 2022). "Four Saints in Three Acts: Gertrude Stein's Prose-Poem Brilliantly Played". New York Stage Review. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ^ Shaw, Helen (September 22, 2022). "An Actor's One-Man Apotheosis". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- Allmer, Patricia; Sears, John, eds. (2017). 4 Saints in 3 Acts: A Snapshot of the American Avant-garde in the 1930s. Manchester: Manchester University Press. ISBN 978-1-5261-1303-0.
- ISBN 0-393-97141-4[pbk]
- ISBN 0-393-31858-3
- ISBN 0-679-44139-5
Further reading
- Renate Stendhal, "Quoting Gertrude Stein", blog by Stein scholar
- Renate Stendhal, ed., Gertrude Stein In Words and Pictures: A Photobiography, Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1989. ISBN 978-0-945575-99-3.