Music
The orchestra's size is about the size employed for early 19th-century opera: 2 flutes (one doubling piccolo), 2 oboes (both doubling oboe d'amore), 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 french horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, tuba, percussion (3 players), celesta (doubling synthesizer), 12 violas, 8 celli, 6 double basses.
Since the Stuttgart State Opera house was being restored in 1984 and the orchestra pit of the Stuttgart State theater, where the premiere was to take place, was considerably smaller, Glass chose to completely leave out the violins (about 20), giving the orchestra a darker, sombre character, which fits the subject. Apart from this, this was Glass's most "conventional" opera orchestra until then (compared to Einstein on the Beach, written for the six-piece Philip Glass Ensemble, and Satyagraha, scored for woodwinds and strings only).
Generally speaking, for the unprepared listener the music of this opera is more accessible than that of its predecessors, the "hardcore" minimalist Einstein and the oratorio-like Satyagraha. The music follows and underlines the dramatic context outlined by the story, and the harmonic and melodic language is more varied and changes more often, giving the music a more theatrical and almost "romantic" quality.
Read more about this topic: Akhnaten (opera)
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