The opera _[Satyagraha](https://www.eno.org/operas/satyagraha/)_ is one of a
trilogy of ‘portrait’ operas by American composer [Philip
Glass](https://www.eno.org/composers/philip-glass/), celebrating individuals
who inspired change through the power of their ideas.

_Satyagraha_ is a meditation on the early life and work of [Mahatma
Gandhi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahatma_Gandhi), whose campaign of non-
violent protest against racism and social injustice changed the course of
history in the twentieth century and his ideas still resonate today.

Born in 1869 in Gujarat, Gandhi moved to London at the age of 18 to train as a
lawyer at the Inner Temple, before spending the early years of his career
working in South Africa (1893-1915). The discovery of diamonds in the 1860s
and later gold, had trigged an economic boom in South Africa in the second
half of the 19th century, resulting in an intensification of British control
over the indigenous population and a struggle for power between the British,
Boers and Zulus.

By the 1890s, the roots of a segregated society that was to be formalised in
the apartheid system when South Africa’s National Party came to power in 1948,
were already becoming entrenched. The large Indian community that had settled
in the country also faced discrimination. Gandhi witnessed numerous incidents
of racial injustice – individuals ordered to remove their turban, denied the
vote or forcibly ejected from buses and trains due to the colour of their skin
– and experienced bullying and prejudice against himself. These experiences
underpinned his determination to focus his attention on challenging the laws
that governed social justice and civil rights.

Gandhi recognised the strength of galvanising individuals together towards a
common goal. He promoted peaceful resistance as a tool for change, organising
strikes and mass protests, and founded a weekly newspaper _Indian Opinion_ to
disseminate his ideas amongst his fellow Indians. The newspaper also provided
a means of alerting the wider world to the social injustices in South Africa,
spreading news about the poor conditions of Indians living in the colonies
which was to shape Indian political history and influence their struggle for
independence from British rule, in which Gandhi played a vital part when he
returned to India in 1915.

[ View 6 images ](https://ekat8wd2es5.exactdn.com/wp-
content/uploads/2018/01/ENO-SATYAGRAHA-Alan-Oke-c-Donald-
Cooper-2-1024×683.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&w=2560&ssl=1) [
](https://ekat8wd2es5.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ENO-SATYAGRAHA-
Alan-Oke-and-members-of-Skills-Ensemble-c-Donald-
Cooper-1024×683.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&w=2560&ssl=1) [
](https://ekat8wd2es5.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ENO-SATYAGRAHA-
ENO-Chorus-Alan-Oke-c-Donald-
Cooper-1024×683.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&w=2560&ssl=1) [
](https://ekat8wd2es5.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ENO-SATYAGRAHA-
Alan-Oke-c-Donald-
Cooper-683×1024.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&w=2560&ssl=1) [
](https://ekat8wd2es5.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ENO-SATYAGRAHA-
Alan-Oke-and-Skills-Ensemble-c-Donald-
Cooper-1024×783.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&w=2560&ssl=1) [
](https://ekat8wd2es5.exactdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ENO-SATYAGRAHA-
ENO-Chorus-and-Alan-Oke-c-Donald-
Cooper-2-1024×681.jpg?strip=all&lossy=1&quality=90&webp=90&w=2560&ssl=1)

Photo Gallery

The opera is structured as a series of tableaux that depict significant
moments in Gandhi’s life in South Africa from the 1890s until the eve of the
First World War. The title is taken from the phrase Gandhi coined to describe
his philosophy – a compound of two Sanskrit nouns, ‘satya’ meaning ‘truth’ and
‘agraha’ meaning ‘holding on’.

The libretto, assembled by the playwright Constance Dejong and composer Philip
Glass, is a collage of Sanskrit texts from the sacred Hindu book the [Bhagavad
Gita](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita) – a meditation on how to
prepare oneself for a spiritual fight – with non-linear interludes pervading
the storyline of Gandhi’s actions in South Africa. Each act is named after a
thinker who influenced or worked with Gandhi, or who was inspired by his
actions, bringing into focus other individuals who protested against the
conditions of their time.

Act 1 remembers [Leo Tolstoy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Tolstoy) whose
ideas about how humans could live together harmoniously in self-sustaining
communes inspired Gandhi’s experimental Tolstoy Farm community in the
Transvaal; Act 2 is presided over by the great Indian philosopher and poet
[Rabindranath Tagore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore) who
is recognised, alongside Gandhi, as the founder of modern India, though the
two men respectfully challenged each other’s views regarding the future of the
country after freedom from British colonial rule; Act 3 commemorates [Martin
Luther King](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.) whose
leadership of the civil rights movement in the United States of America in the
middle of the 20th century was influenced by Gandhi’s ideas.

Related Content: Satyagraha: MusicExplore the music of Philip Glass