Glass, a pioneer of the minimalist school, made his name as a composer with his first opera, Einstein on the Beach. Throughout his career, opera, along with film music, has been a major focus of his work.
Operas
Einstein on the Beach, opera in four acts and five 'kneeplays' Libretto by Christopher Knowles, Samuel M. Johnson, and Lucinda Childs. July 25, 1976, Avignon Festival, Avignon, France; also 21 Nov. 1976, Metropolitan Opera, New York, New York (US premiere)
Attacca, madrigal opera (1980)
Satyagraha: M. K. Gandhi in South Africa, opera in three acts Libretto by the composer and Constance DeJong after the Bhagavadgita. September 5, 1980, Stadsschouwburg, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; also 29 July 1981, Artpark, Lewiston, New York (US premiere) (in sanskrit)
The Photographyer (1982)
The Panther (1982) [rev. of Attacca]
the CIVIL warS (Rome section) (1984)
the CIVIL warS (Cologne section) (1984) [additional music]
Akhenaten, opera in three acts with prologue and epilogue Libretto by the composer, Shalom Goldman, Robert Israel, and Richard Riddell after historical and miscellaneous sources. March 24, 1984, Stuttgart, Germany; also 12 October 1984, Houston, Texas (US premiere)
The Juniper Tree, children's opera (1985) (with Robert Moran)
A Descent into the Maelstrom (1986)
The Making of the Representative for Planet 8 Libretto by libretto by Doris Lessing after her novel of the same name. 1988
The Fall of the House of Usher, chamber opera in two acts with prologue Libretto by Arthur Yorinks after the short story by Edgar Allan Poe. May 18, 1988, American Rep., Cambridge, Massachusetts
1000 Airplanes On the Roof, theatre piece Libretto by David Henry Hwang. 1989
Hydrogen Jukebox, multimedia theater work (1990)
The Voyage, opera in three acts with prologue and epilogue Libretto by David Henry Hwang. October 12, 1992, Metropolitan Opera, New York, New York
Orphée, opera in two acts Libretto by Philip Glass after the film of Jean Cocteau. May 14, 1993, American Rep., Cambridge, Massachusetts
Les Enfants Terribles, dance opera Libretto by Philip Glass and Susan Marshall after after the film of Jean Cocteau. May 18, 1996, Theatre Casino, Zug, Switzerland
The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four, and Five, opera in two acts Libretto by Doris Lessing after her novel of the same name. May 10, 1997, Theater der Stadt Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
Monsters of Grace, digital opera in three dimensions Libretto by Coleman Barks after the writings of Rumi. April 15, 1998, Royce Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles, California
The White Raven, opera in five acts Libretto by Luísa Costa Gomes. September 26, 1998, Julio Verne Auditorium, Teatro Camões, Lisbon, Portugal (with Robert Wilson)
In the Penal Colony, chamber opera Libretto by Rudolph Wurlitzer after the story by Franz Kafka. August 31, 2000, ACT, Seattle, Washington
Galileo Galilei, opera in ten scenes Libretto by Philip Glass, Arnold Weinstein and Mary Zimmerman. July 24, 2002, Albert Ivar Goodman Theatre, Chicago, Illinois
The Sound of a Voice Libretto by David Henry Hwang. May 24, 2003
Waiting for the Barbarians, opera in two acts Libretto by Christopher Hampton after the novel by John M. Coetzee. September 10, 2005, Erfurt Theater, Erfut, Germany
Appomattox Libretto by Christopher Hampton after the novel by John M. Coetzee. October 5, 2007, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco, California
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