Opera Guide—Four Saints in Three Acts
American Opera by Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Stein
Four Saints in Three Acts: An Opera to be Sung is an opera featuring over twenty saints--plus another forty-four mentioned in passing--in four acts and a prologue. The contrast between the title and the contents exemplifies the character of Gertrude Stein's libretto, which contains such numbers as "Let Lucy Lily Lily Lucy Lucy let Lucy Lucy Lily Lily Lily Lily Lily" and is, depending on one's perspective, either deeply symbolic or deeply nonsensical (or perhaps a bit of both). Nevertheless it has been an icon in American opera, admired by such composers as Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland and John Cage.
The saints include both well-known, traditional saints, such as St. Theresa of Avila and St. Ignatius Loyola, and previously unknown saints such as St. Plot, St. Settlement and St. Ten. Two characters, Commère and Compère, fill the role of a Greek chorus, adding to the confusion while ostensibly explaining the plot. After the libretto and music were all written, a scenario was devised by Maurice Grosser for the purpose of staging, which helps form the opera into a coherent story.
The composer, Virgil Thoson, wrote that he and Stein decided to write an opera about saints "because we viewed a saint's life as related to our own"--that is, the artist as a source of inspiration and guidance to younger, growing artists. The opera was first performed in Hartford on February 8, 1934 by the Society of Friends and Enemies of Modern Music.
Characters in Four Saints in Three Acts
- St. Theresa I (Soprano)
- St. Theresa II (Contralto)
- St. Settlement (Lyric soprano)
- St. Ignatius (Baritone)
- St. Chavez (Tenor)
- Compère (Bass)
- Commère (Mezzo-soprano)
Chorus of Saints
- St. Sarah (Alto)
- St. Stephen (Tenor)
- St. Plan (Bass)
- St. Jan (Bass)
- St. Anne (Soprano)
- St. Genevieve (Soprano)
- St. Celestine (Alto)
- St. Lawrence (Bass)
- St. Cecilia (Soprano)
- St. Answers (Soprano)
- St. Placide (Bass)
- St. Absalom (Tenor)
- St. Eustace (Baritone)
- St. Vincent (Bass)
- St. Philip (Bass)
Synopsis of Four Saints in Three Acts
Prologue
Commère, Compère and a quartet of saints introduce the story. St. Theresa I and St. Ignatius are introduced, and the Cathedral of Avila is revealed.
Act I: "St. Theresa half indoors and half out of doors"
In a set of tableaux vaguely following the seven aspects of St. Theresa's life, St. Theresa II communicates with St. Theresa I and St. Ignatius, then descents the cathedral steps with St. Theresa I and joins the other saints. "Living pictures" are used to represent her mystical religious experience.
Act II: "Might it be mountains if it were not Barcelona"
The saints hold a picnic, and St. Theresas I and II observe the Heavenly Mansion through a telescope.
Act III: "St. Ignatius and one of two literally"
St. Ignatius has a vision of the Holy Ghost ("Pigeons on the grass alas, and a magpie in the sky"). There is a ballet in a Spanish dance style. Commère and Compère decide that there should be a fourth act.
Act IV: "The sisters and saints reassembled and re-enacting why they went away to stay"
The saints, together in heaven, recall memories of their earthly lives and sing a hymn ("When this you see remember me," which uses the same melody as the opera's opening song). Compère announces: "Last Act"; the others reply, "Which is a fact," and the opera ends.
Sources:
- Simon, Henry W. 100 Great Operas and Their Stories. Garden City: Dolphin, 1960.
- Thomson, Virgil and Gertrude Stein, ed. H. Wiley Hitchcock and Charles Fussell. Four Saints in Three Acts. Middleton, Wisconsin: A-R Editions, 2008.
- Thomson, Virgil. Four Saints in Three Acts program notes.
American Composer Virgil Thomson (1896 - 1989)
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Modernist Writer Getrude Stein (1874 - 1946)
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