When the outbreak of what was then known as the Great War, made scarce the resources needed to mount the lavish ballet productions with which Igor Stravinsky had recently built his international reputation, the composer, with characteristic ingenuity, turned limitation into an asset, and responded with one his most inventie and beguiling works, L'Hhistoire du Solday—The Soldier's Tale. Scored for smaller forces, it was a Faustian stage work to be "read, played and danced" by three actors, one or more dancers, and a septet of instruments. The Faustian tale, with libretto, in French, by Swiss writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz, based their work on Russian folks tale, "The Runaway Soldier and the Devil," and featured a masterful score by Stravinsky, the not only contained some of his finest music, but made history by being among the first by a classical composer to reflect a knowledge and influence of American jazz.
On this afternoon's Classical Music With Foley Schuler, we'll hear the Suite from L'Histoire du Soldat, which premiered on September 28 in Lausanne, Switzerland, from a classic recording date conducting by Stravinsky himself.
You can hear Foley Schuler's musical selecdtions—and stories behind the music—every weekday afternoon on Blue Lake Public Radio.
