The Classical Music Minute

L'Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale) by Igor Stravinsky

November 21, 2022 Steven Hobé, Composer & Host Season 1 Episode 87
The Classical Music Minute
L'Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale) by Igor Stravinsky
Show Notes Transcript

Description
Here’s another one of my favourite pieces, L'Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale) by Igor Stravinsky. Take a minute to get the scoop!

L`Histoire du Soldat/ Suite de Concert, Pierre Boulez ℅ YouTube

Fun Fact
L'Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale) was premiered in Lausanne on 28 September 1918, conducted by Ernest Ansermet. The British conductor Edward Clark was a friend and champion of Stravinsky and a former assistant conductor to Ansermet at the Ballets Russes. He conducted the British premiere of L'Histoire du soldat in 1926 in Newcastle upon Tyne, and gave three further fully staged performances in London in July 1927.

About Steven, Host
Steven is a Canadian composer living in Toronto. He creates a range of works, with an emphasis on the short-form genre—his muse being to offer the listener both the darker and more satiric shades of human existence. If you're interested, please check out his website for more. Member of the Canadian League Of Composers.
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Here’s another one of my favourite pieces, L'Histoire du soldat (The Soldier's Tale) by Stravinsky. I always feel like I’m looking at the world sideways when I listen to the piece. Go figure.
 
The Soldier’s Tale is a theatrical work "to be read, played, and danced" by three actors and one or several dancers, accompanied by a septet of instruments, violin, double bass, clarinet, bassoon, cornet (often played on trumpet), trombone, and percussion.
 
The piece was based on a Russian folk tale called The Runaway Soldier and the Devil. The story goes that the soldier trades his fiddle to the devil in return for unlimited economic gain. 
 
Stravinsky was assisted greatly in the production of the work by the Swiss philanthropist Werner Reinhart. In gratitude, Stravinsky dedicated the work to Reinhart. 
 
Stravinsky also created a concert suite of five numbers from The Soldier's Tale, arranged for clarinet, violin, and piano, which was a nod to Reinhart, who was regarded as an excellent amateur clarinetist.