Editorial note: the composer uses the spelling Akhnaten, while the more conventional variant is Akhenaten. Given the nature of Egyptian hieroglyphics, the absence of a vowel is not terribly important. In this article the first version refers to the opera and the second to the pharaoh.
According to the composer, this work is the culmination of his two other biographical operas, Einstein on the Beach and Satyagraha (about Mohandas Gandhi). These three -- Akhenaten, Einstein and Gandhi -- were all driven by an inner vision which altered the age in which they lived, particularly Akhenaten in religion, Einstein in science and Gandhi in politics.
The music, contrary to the critics of the minimalist school of music, is powerful, emotional and extremely moving. The tragedy of Akhenaten's life and times is always present, if only in the background and every musical phrase is imbued with an aura of antiquity.
The text, taken from original sources, is given in the original languages, linked together with the commentary of a narrator in a modern language, such as English or German. Egyptian texts of the period are taken from a poem of Akhenaten, the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and extracts of decrees and letters from the Amarna period. Other portions are in Akkadian and Biblical Hebrew.
The opera is divided into three acts:
Act I: Year 1 of Akhnaten's Reign in Thebes