Histoire du soldat, or Tale of the Soldier (as it was first published), is an hour-long 1918 theatrical work to be "read, played and danced (lue, jouée et dansée)" by three actors, one or more dancers, and a septet of instruments. Its music is by Igor Stravinsky, its libretto, in French, by Swiss writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz; the two men conceived it together, their basis being the Russian tale The Runaway Soldier and the Devil in the collection of Alexander Afanasyev.

Music

Histoire du soldat is scored for clarinet, bassoon, cornet (often played on trumpet), trombone, percussion, violin and double bass. The music is rife with changing time-signatures and for this reason is commonly, though not always, performed with a conductor.

Roles

Ramuz relates the parable of a soldier who trades his violin to the Devil in return for vast economic gain by means of three actors: the Narrator, who both narrates and impersonates several minor characters; the Devil, who assumes various guises; and the Soldier himself, Joseph, from no army identified. A dancer has the usually silent role of the Princess.

First performances

Stravinsky was helped greatly in the work's production by Swiss philanthropist Werner Reinhart, who sponsored and underwrote its premiere. In gratitude Stravinsky dedicated Histoire to him, and gave him the manuscript. Histoire du soldat was first performed on 28 September 1918 in Lausanne, conducted by Ernest Ansermet. British conductor Edward Clark, a friend and champion of Stravinsky and a former assistant to Ansermet at the Ballets Russes, led the British premiere in 1926 in Newcastle upon Tyne and gave three fully staged performances in London the following July.

Suites

Reinhart continued his support of Stravinsky's work in 1919 by funding a series of concerts of his recent chamber music. These included a suite of five numbers from Histoire du soldat arranged for clarinet, violin and piano, in a nod to Reinhart who was an amateur clarinetist. This was first performed on 8 November 1919, also in Lausanne, long before a larger suite employing all seven original instruments became available to other musicians.

Structure

The work's sixteen narrative and instrumental sections alternate and are not intended to overlap.

Part 1

Joseph Duprat, the Soldier, is walking exhausted toward his hometown on a 15-day leave, pack in tow. (Marche du soldat / The Soldier's March). He rests by a stream. From his pack he takes out his lucky St. Joseph medallion, then a mirror, next a picture of his fiancée, and finally his violin. He begins to play. (Petits airs au bord du ruisseau / Airs by the Stream). The Devil appears, disguised as an old man carrying a butterfly net. Joseph does not notice him but continues to play. The Devil sneaks up from behind and startles him. The Devil asks Joseph to sell him his violin. When Joseph refuses he offers him a book that he says will lead to untold wealth. Joseph does not understand the book, but the Devil convinces him it is worth more than his cheap violin. Joseph realizes the book contains events that happen in the future. He accepts the Devil's offer to spend three days at the Devil's home in great luxury to learn about the book and teach the Devil the violin. After this term the Devil takes Joseph the rest of his way home. (Reprise: Marche du soldat). But once in his hometown Joseph notices something strange: everyone runs away as they see him. He arrives at his fiancée's house only to find her with husband and children. Finally he realizes that three years, not three days, have passed and that his former neighbors and friends think he's a ghost. (Pastorale). Joseph sees the Devil in disguise as a cattle merchant and confronts him. The Devil tries to calm Joseph by reminding him of the book's power: Joseph started off as a peddler but with the knowledge gained from the book quickly amassed wealth. The Soldier realizes this material wealth means nothing. All he wants is what he had before, the things everyone else has. (Reprise: Petits airs). Agitated, he leafs through the book for a solution, in vain. The Devil arrives, now disguised as an old woman peddler. She offers for sale a lucky medallion, a mirror, a picture of a woman, and then a violin. Joseph moves to buy the violin, but when she hands it over he finds he can no longer play: it makes no sound. (Reprise: Petits airs). He hurls it away and tears up the book.

Part 2

Joseph leaves his home with nothing and marches through town. (Reprise: Marche du soldat). He arrives at an inn where he hears the news that the king's daughter is sick, and whoever can raise her from her bed will be given her hand in marriage. He makes his way to the palace. (Marche royale / Royal March). The Devil is already at the palace disguised as a virtuoso violinist. Joseph turns over some cards and gets an air of confidence when they are all hearts. The Devil makes his presence known, clutching the violin to his chest, and taunts Joseph. The Narrator informs Joseph that the Devil still controls him because he retains the Devil's money, and if he can lose all of it to the Devil in a card game he will be free. This the Soldier does. He then takes the violin and plays. (Petit concert / Little Concert). He triumphantly marches into the Princess's chambers where he plays another tune. Miraculously the music revives her, and she begins a sequence of dances. (Trois danses / Three Dances: Tango, Waltz, Ragtime). As the two embrace the Devil arrives, for the first time undisguised. Joseph shields the Princess. He realizes he can defeat the Devil by playing his violin. (Danse du diable / Dance of the Devil). Unable to resist the music, the Devil begins to contort, is exhausted, and finally falls to the ground. Joseph takes the Princess's hand and together they drag the Devil away before falling into each other's arms. (Petit choral / Little Chorale). But the Devil pops his head in and begins to torment the couple, warning that Joseph may not leave the palace without the Devil regaining control of him. (Couplets du diable / The Devil's Couplets).

Conclusion

Over the Grand choral / Great Chorale, the Narrator states the moral: The work ends with Joseph crossing the frontier-post, a boundary not to be crossed, after being tempted by the ideal of having both his wife and his mother. The Devil is waiting as Joseph turns back to find his Princess, now gone. (Marche triomphale du diable / The Devil's Triumphant March): violin and percussion entwined in a rhythmic duel, the final measures played solely by the percussionist; here the score is marked decrescendo to the end, although this may be changed crescendo when performing the Suite.

Translations into English and German

The original French text by Ramuz has been translated into English by Michael Flanders and Kitty Black, and into German by the poet Hans Reinhart.

Musical influences

Histoire du soldat shows Stravinsky's absorption of a wide range of musical influences: the pasodoble in the Marche royale; the tango, the waltz and ragtime, as played by Joseph to cure the Princess; klezmer in the instrumentation and textures; Luther's Ein feste Burg in the Petit choral; and Bach in the Grand choral. According to the musicologist Danick Trottier, these influences are linked to a certain extent to Stravinsky's experiences and first successes in the cosmopolitan Paris of the early 1910s, since the capital of France was a confluence-point for a variety of artists and musicians during La Belle Époque.

Performance history

Recordings

Adaptations