About the work
Opera in a prologue and four acts by Virgil Thomson to a 1927 libretto by Gertrude Stein, first performed on 7 February 1934 at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut, conducted by Alexander Smallens with direction and choreography by Frederick Ashton. The production was performed throughout by Black singers – a first for an American opera premiere of the period.
Plot
Stein and Thomson dispense with a continuous plot: at the centre stand Saint Teresa of Ávila and Saint Ignatius of Loyola in sixteenth-century Spain, surrounded by numerous other saints, some of them invented. Loose scenes of garden festivities, processions and visions culminate in a heavenly gathering where the saints look back on their earthly lives.
Cultural significance
The combination of Stein's associative, often illogical language with Thomson's plain, diatonic music modelled on American hymn tunes made the opera one of the most influential works of the American avant-garde. After its premiere it transferred to Broadway for around 60 performances – an unprecedented run for a new American opera.