William Grant Still (1895-1978)
Sahdji (Ballet) (1930)
"[A] love for stage productions led Still to the ballet, and one of his earliest was Sahdji, undertaken after more than a year of studying African music and legend. The work was first produced at the Eastman School in 1931, under the direction of Howard Hanson. 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." - Shirley Fleming
Part I.
00:00
"The curtain rises on a circular hut in a jungle clearing, and in the foreground a group of warriors are dancing. Their supplication to the god of the hunt can be heard as the driving rhythm relaxes, and then the dance gains momentum again. Sahdji appears in the doorway of the hut, announced in the orchestra by a sinuous motive in the strings over a long, sustained tone in the low woodwinds. She looks at Konombju, then quickly turns back into the hut. The Medicine Man, with grotesque gestures, charms Konombju's spear, while a solitary oboe proclaims the eeriness of the ritual, and then the women, singing, dance around the chieftain in flattery.
Suddenly Sahdji walks into the clearing, smeared with red ochre. The crowd draws back in horror, but she moves toward Konombju, to the hushed tremolo of the strings, and begins to dance before him. The spectators are swept under her spell, and all begin to dance with her. The frenzy grows, accompanied by shouts from the men and women. At last the dance ends, leaving Sahdji in a position of supplication before Konombju. He makes a gesture of approval.
The hunters depart, the women leave, and Sahdji goes into the hut. Then, with a sweeping melody in the strings and a slow, descending solo by the English horn, Mrabo enters. Sahdji comes out to embrace him, and in the interlude that follows she tries to persuade him to go with her into the hut. Caution holds him back, but eventually he succumbs; he carries her in, as a chant rises in the distance, offstage. This is the end of Part I."
Part II.
11:29
"During the rather lengthy opening of Part II, the lovers come out of the hut, Mrabo picks up his shield and exits, and Sahdji builds a fire and begins to dance around the flames. Then the beat of the tom-toms is heard, and the wailing of the death chant. The hunters come in carrying the body of Konombju, which they lay at Sahdji's feet. The Medicine Man performs elaborate rites, and Mrabo enters and takes the sceptre of authority. At last the wailing stops. The warriors, in funeral attire, begin to dance around the bier they have made. Sahdji flees, then re-enters dressed for a wedding ceremony. She places a dagger in the hand of the corpse, and eventually, as Mrabo watches in indecision, she begins to dance. Gestures of reverence alternate with wild abandon, as she is torn between the pledge to die and the desire to live. Finally, exhausted, she throws herself backwards over the body, seizes the dagger, and plunges it into her breast. The great sigh of the people, offstage, is the last sound to be heard."
Performed by Howard Hanson and the Eastman-Rochester Orchestra & Chorus. Recorded by Mercury in 1959.
American Ballet series
American Ballet series: George Antheil
American Ballet series: Samuel Barber
American Ballet series: William Bergsma
American Ballet series: Elliott Carter
American Ballet series: Aaron Copland
American Ballet series: David Diamond
American Ballet series: Morton Gould
American Ballet series: Gian Carlo Menotti
American Ballet series: William Schuman
