John Adams

The Gospel According to the Other Mary

The Gospel According to the Other Mary is an opera-oratorio by the American composer John Adams. The world premiere took place on May 31, 2012, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles with

Instrumentation#

The piece is scored for the following orchestra: Woodwinds : piccolo : 2 flutes : 2 oboes : English horn : 2 B clarinets : bass clarinet : 2 bassoons : contrabassoon Brass : 4 horns : 2 trumpets : 2 trombones Percussion (3 players) : snare drum : pedal bass drum : very low bass drum : timbale : low tom-tom : tuned gongs : chimes : almglocken : glockenspiel : Plucked and struck strings : cimbalom : bass guitar : piano : harp Strings : Violin I, II : Violas : Cellos : Double basses

Structure#

The opera-oratorio is in two acts, broken down into the following scenes:

Act 1#

Scene 1 (Jail / House of Hospitality)
Scene 2 (Mary)
Chorus: En un día de amor yo bajé hasta la tierra
Scene 3 (Lazarus)
Chorus: Drop down, ye heavens
Scene 4 (Supper at Bethany)
Scene 5 (Passover)

Act 2#

Chorus: Who rips his flesh down the seams
Scene 1 (Police Raid)
Scene 2 (Arrest of the Women)
Scene 3 (Golgotha)
Scene 4 (Night)
Scene 5 (Burial / Spring)
Chorus: It is spring
Scene 6 (Earthquake and Recognition Scene)

Critical reception#

The Gospel According to the Other Mary has received widespread praise, having been variously described as “powerfully prescient”, “uncommonly provocative”, and “immensely powerful”. Andrew Clements of The Guardian called the score “easily the finest thing Adams has composed in more than two decades”. However, such praise has not been universal. Comparing the piece to Adams’ opera El Niño, Zachary Woolfe of The New York Times called The Gospel According to the Other Mary “more crowded and less coherent”, and the piece has been described as having dramaturgical flaws by multiple critics.

External links#

Recording with Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel
Reviews at Boosey & Hawkes

Composer: John Adams