The Mother of Us All

The Mother of Us All is a two act opera composed by Virgil Thomson to a libretto by Gertrude Stein. Thomson and Stein met in 1945 to begin the writing process, almost twenty years after their first collaborative project, the opera Four Saints in Three Acts. Stein wrote the libretto in the winter of 1945–46 before sending it to Thomson in March. After Stein's death in July, Thomson began working on the score, which he finished within just a few months. The opera centers around Susan B. Anthony, one of the major figures in the fight for women's suffrage in the United States, with a supporting cast of characters both fictional and based on other historical figures. Both her libretto and Thomson's orchestration were highly idiomatic, matching patriotic dialogue with "hymns, marches, patriotic airs, and parlor songs" in order to emulate the atmosphere of America's 19th century political scene. Contrary to Four Saints in Three Acts, the focus of The Mother of Us All was on distinctly characterizing each political player—Thomson gave each a particular musical identity through his melody and orchestration. The opera's duration is around 103 minutes.

The work is scored for one flute, one oboe, two clarinets, one bassoon, two French horns, two trumpets, one trombone, two percussionists, harp, celesta, piano, and strings. Soprano Shirlee Emmons was awarded an Obie Award for her portrayal of Susan B. Anthony in the 1956 Off Broadway production. The opera was mounted at Carnegie Hall by the American Opera Society in 1964 with Johanna Meier as Susan B. Anthony, Betty Allen as Anne, Thomas Paul as Daniel Webster, and Enrico Di Giuseppe as John Quincy Adams. The Santa Fe Opera mounted the work in 1976 and released a recording of the work the following year on the New World Records label. The European premiere took place in Kensington Town Hall in London on 26 June 1979.