PROGRAM NOTES
A SOLDIER ’ S TALE AND ROMEO AND JULIET
Maximilian Franz
FROM THE PODIUM by Kori Hill
Dance tells a story ; and storytelling , in some ways , is a dance . That is what brought this program together : the expressive force of music , dance , and storytelling . My interpretation of this repertoire is always influenced by the story : with Stravinsky , the story really guides the music ; and with Prokofiev , my storytelling is in cooperation with the musicians , which makes for a very exciting combination .
My favorite of Prokofiev ’ s Romeo and Juliet suites has always been No . 2 . However , all the music from the ballet is extremely powerful and beautiful . When there is enough time to fill on a program , you can add in almost any additional music to expand the suite and it works well . That is what we have done here . This new version of Stravinsky ’ s A Soldier ’ s Tale was in progress when I was invited to Baltimore , and we found this work in conjunction with Prokofiev ’ s to be a very good fit . They both show the importance of storytelling to humanity .
I hope you enjoy two of the most important works in music history . They are both powerful and beautiful , as relevant today as when they were composed .
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
BY KORI HILL
Igor Stravinsky
Born June 17 , 1882 in Lomonosov , Russia Died April 6 , 1971 in New York City , New York
A SOLDIER ’ S TALE [ 1918 ]
A Soldier ’ s Tale is a theatrical concert work by Igor Stravinsky and C . F . Ramuz , inspired by Alexander Afanasyev ’ s collection of folk tales , The Runaway Soldier and the Devil . It premiered in 1918 , in the aftermath of World War I and in direct response to Stravinsky ’ s financial struggles . The work reflects Stravinsky ’ s adherence to modernist and neo-classical themes : looking to the real and imagined past for “ new ” sounds and “ new ” organizations . Case in point , the piece calls for three actors ( narrator ; soldier ; the devil ), a septet ( violin , clarinet , bassoon , cornet , double bass , trombone , and percussion ) and a dancer ( the princess ) Short , repetitive melodies ; bitonality ; peppy rhythms , and borrowing of ragtime and jazz rhythms create a skewed , enchanting atmosphere .
Our story begins with the soldier minding his business , when the devil dances up and promises him prosperity — if he gives him his fiddle . The soldier is skeptical , but eventually accepts . He returns home a rich but forgotten man : his neighbors mistake him for a ghost ; his girlfriend is now a wife and a mother ; and his fiddling skills have left him . But the soldier gets a chance to trick the devil : in his quest to heal a princess , he regains his musical skill and finds a pyrrhic happiness : he has won the princess , but if he leaves the palace , the devil will claim his soul . Eventually , the pain of home becomes too much . Mistaking his previous cleverness for luck , he leaves one prison for another : the waiting hands and gleeful feet of the devil .
A Soldier ’ s Tale has been performed in many formats : in the original instrumentation ; as a concert piece ; as a work for solo rock guitar . This year , the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra joins with Wordsmith , who envisions this work from the perspective of a Black American soldier returning from Vietnam . The themes that appear in this story : soldiers ’ financial precarity ; selling your soul , your talent , and sacrificing personal relationships for wealth , are all situations and realities that people face , whether they live and work in 1918 , 1977 , or 2022 . Like the folk and fairy tales that inspired it , A Soldier ’ s Tale communicates as it entertains and / or terrifies : don ’ t trust the stranger in the woods or on the road ; you ‘ ve gotta give something to get something ; don ’ t dish out what you can ’ t take ; and you can ’ t have your cake and eat it too .
Instrumentation Clarinet , Bassoon , Cornet , Trombone , Percussion , Violin , Bass
Sergei Prokofiev
Born April 23 , 1891 in Ukraine Died March 5 , 1953 in Moscow , Russia
SUITES FROM ROMEO AND JULIET [ 1940 ]
There are no ( literal ) devils in Sergei Prokofiev ’ s Romeo and Juliet . But to some , his acceptance of this Kirov commission ( later transferred to the Bolshoi ) was a “ deal with the devil ,” as it required him and his family to move back to Stalinist Russia . Completed in 1935 , the original version was met with hostility ; Prokofiev , dramaturge Adrian Piotrovsky , and Sergei Radlov had decided Romeo and Juliet should have a happy , triumphant ending . And in Stalinist Russia , creative disagreement could be grounds for censorship , arrest , and death .
The ballet was postponed ; Prokofiev furiously reset some of the score as two orchestral suites to keep the work in public consciousness ; Piotrovsky was arrested , sentenced to death , and executed in 1937 ; by 1940 , when the ballet finally premiered with the original ending restored ( the Bolshoi had declared it “ undanceable ,” so the work went back to the Kirov ),
16 OVERTURE / BSOmusic . org