The Transposed Heads (opera)

The Transposed Heads is an opera in one act with six scenes composed by Peggy Glanville-Hicks. She also wrote the libretto which was adapted from Lowe-Porter's English translation of Thomas Mann's novella, Die vertauschten Köpfe. It was a commission from the Louisville Philharmonic Society and premiered on 3 April 1954 at the Columbia Auditorium in Louisville, Kentucky.

Set in India, the story centers on the love triangle between Sita, her husband Shridaman, and Shridaman's friend Nanda. During a fraught episode in a temple to Kali, each of the male protagonists beheads himself. Kali brings them back to life but with the heads on the wrong bodies. Living with the mix-up ultimately results in Shridaman and Nanda committing suicide again and Sita throwing herself on their joint funeral pyre.