Histoire du Soldat

Stravinsky’s not-quite-jazz ensemble creates a distinctive sound, rough and popular in style, yet full of soul in its spare yet haunting melodies. This ensemble performs in The Soldier’s Tale (1918), a story “to be read, played and danced”, intended by Stravinsky and the Swiss novelist Charles Ferdinand Ramuz to be inexpensively staged on a trestle and easily toured by a small company of performers and musicians. Based on a Russian folk tale, it concerns a soldier who, returning home on leave, is waylaid by a devil, who persuades him to trade his violin for a magic book which will provide material wealth. The violin naturally features in Stravinsky’s instrumental line-up, which also includes cornet, trombone, clarinet, bassoon, bass and what is effectively a single percussionist with a drum kit. Stravinsky’s refusal to include a piano, however, meant that a conductor and a good deal of rehearsal for its virtuosic music were necessary—so The Soldier’s Tale became too prohibitively expensive to be performed other than in purpose-built theatres. The music ultimately found success as a concert suite, as premiered in 1920 at London’s Wigmore Hall, conducted by Ernest Ansermet.