Sahdji (ballet)

Sahdji is a 1930 ballet composition in two-movements by American composer William Grant Still.[1] The ballet was first performed in 1931 under the direction of Howard Hanson at the Eastman School of Music. The work is about twenty minutes long.[2]

William Grant Still in 1949, photographed by Carl Van Vechten

Overview

A description of the ballet is presented as follows:

The setting of the ballet (which calls for chorus, as well) is a hunting festival of the Azande tribe in central Africa. Sahdji, the favorite wife of the Azande chieftain Konombju, is infatuated with his nephew and succesor, Mrabo. While Konombju is away on a hunting expedition, Sahdji and Mrabo betray him; a few hours later, at sunset, the hunters return carrying Konombju's body: he has been killed on the expedition. According to tribal custom, the favorite wife of the chieftain must take her life when her husband dies. Sahdji, torn between her loyalty to the death vow and her desire for life and the love of Mrabo, dances before the bier of Konombju and finally stabs herself with the sacrificial dagger. [2]

— Shirley Fleming, Mercury Records

Movements
  1. Part I.
  2. Part II.

See also

References
  1. Soll, Beverly (2005). I Dream a World: The Operas of William Grant Still. University of Arkansas Press. ISBN 978-1-55728-789-2.
  2. Fleming, Shirley (May 14, 2012). "William Grant Still / Sahdji (Ballet)". Mercury Records. Retrieved January 29, 2021.

Further reading
  • Still, Judith Anne (1990). William Grant Still: A Voice High-Sounding (1 ed.). Flagstaff, Arizona: The Master-Player Library. ISBN 1-877873-15-2.
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