Der Jasager (literally The Yes Sayer also translated as The Affirmer or He Said Yes) is an opera (specifically a Schuloper or "school-opera") by Kurt Weill to a German libretto by Bertolt Brecht (after Elisabeth Hauptmann's translation from Arthur Waley's English version of the Japanese Nō drama Taniko).
Its companion piece is Der Neinsager (He Said No) although Brecht's other text was never set by Weill.
Weill also identifies the piece, following Brecht's development of the experimental form, as a Lehrstück, or "teaching-piece".[1]
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It was first performed in Berlin by students of the Akademie für Kirchen und Schulmusik at the Zentralinstitut für Erziehung und Unterricht on 23 June 1930 and broadcast simultaneously on the radio. It was successful and there were over 300 performances during the following three years.
Brecht subsequently revised the text twice, the final version, including Der Neinsager, being without music.
| Role | Voice type | Premiere cast, 23 June 1930 (Conductor: Kurt Drabeck) |
|---|---|---|
| The boy | treble | |
| The mother | mezzo-soprano | |
| The teacher | baritone | Otto Hopf |
| First student | treble or tenor | |
| Second student | treble or tenor | |
| Third student | treble or baritone |
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