Stravinsky: Historie du Soldat - CD

ENGLISH

The project for Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier's Tale) came about in a difficult economic context. The means of the two creators were dwindling at an alarming rate: Diaghilev's Ballets were no longer touring, due to the war, and the Russian revolution had deprived Stravinsky of his remaining savings. As for Ramuz, some of whose works had been published in France, he was no longer receiving his royalties. Thus, after the creation of Renard and the beginnings of Les Noces, the two friends wondered "Why not write something together which would entail only a limited number of instruments and two or three characters?" Thus did Histoire du soldat come into being. Its musical forces were limited: deciding against the piano, the composer opted for an ensemble of seven instruments representing all the sections of the orchestra with their highest and lowest elements (strings: violin and double bass; winds: clarinet and bassoon; brass: cornet and trombone), plus a highly developed percussion part. Work progressed quickly in spite of numerous organizational difficulties. The first performance brought together friends and well-known artists: Ernest Ansermet conducted, René Auberjonois designed the sets and costumes, Georges Pitoëff and his wife Ludmilla played the parts of the Devil and the Princess, Elie Gagnebin was the reader, and Gabriel Rosset, a member of the student association, played the Soldier. Initially, their grand project included touring with a portable stage, like the itinerant players of the Middle Ages. But the devastating Spanish influenza epidemic and the armistice of November 1918 put an end to that idea. Nonetheless, Histoire du soldat would later be performed regularly, featuring famous names: Jean Cocteau in the role of the reader (Geneva, 1934), François Simon, son of the great French actor Michel, in the role of the Soldier at the Théâtre des Champs élysées (Paris, 1946)...