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Histoire du soldat (sometimes written L'histoire du soldat; translated as The Soldier's Tale or A Soldier's Tale) is a 1918 theatrical work "to be read, played, and danced" ("lue, jouée et dansée") set to music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
 by Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian-born composer, considered by many to be the most influential composer of 20th century music. He was a quintessentially Cosmopolitanism Russian who was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people of the century....
. The libretto
Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, Musical theater, and ballet....
, which is based on a Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
n folk tale, was written in French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
 by the Swiss universalist writer C.F. Ramuz
Charles Ferdinand Ramuz

Charles Ferdinand Ramuz was a French language-speaking Switzerland writer.He was born in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud and educated at the University of Lausanne....
. It is a parable
Parable

A parable is a brief, succinct story, in prose or Verse , that illustrates a moral or religious lesson. It differs from a fable in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as characters, while parables generally feature human characters....
 about a soldier
Soldier

A soldier is a general English term that refers to a land component of national armed forces.In most societies of the world, "soldier" is also a general term for any member of the land forces including Commissioned officer and non-commissioned officers....
 who trades his fiddle
Fiddle

The term fiddle refers to a violin; it is a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including European classical music....
 to the devil
Devil

The Devil is the title given to the supernatural being, who, in mainstream Christianity, Islam, and some other religions, is believed to be a powerful, evil entity and the tempter of humankind....
 for a book that predicts the future of the economy
Economic system

An economic system or ?conomic system is a system that involves the Economic production, distribution and consumption of Good and Service between the entities in a particular society....
.






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Histoire du soldat (sometimes written L'histoire du soldat; translated as The Soldier's Tale or A Soldier's Tale) is a 1918 theatrical work "to be read, played, and danced" ("lue, jouée et dansée") set to music
Music

Music is an art form whose media is sound organized in time. Common elements of music are pitch , rhythm , dynamics , and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture ....
 by Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky

Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky was a Russian-born composer, considered by many to be the most influential composer of 20th century music. He was a quintessentially Cosmopolitanism Russian who was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people of the century....
. The libretto
Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, Musical theater, and ballet....
, which is based on a Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
n folk tale, was written in French
French language

French is a Romance language spoken around the world by around 80 million people as first language, by 190 million as second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired tongue, with significant speakers in 54 countries....
 by the Swiss universalist writer C.F. Ramuz
Charles Ferdinand Ramuz

Charles Ferdinand Ramuz was a French language-speaking Switzerland writer.He was born in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud and educated at the University of Lausanne....
. It is a parable
Parable

A parable is a brief, succinct story, in prose or Verse , that illustrates a moral or religious lesson. It differs from a fable in that fables use animals, plants, inanimate objects, and forces of nature as characters, while parables generally feature human characters....
 about a soldier
Soldier

A soldier is a general English term that refers to a land component of national armed forces.In most societies of the world, "soldier" is also a general term for any member of the land forces including Commissioned officer and non-commissioned officers....
 who trades his fiddle
Fiddle

The term fiddle refers to a violin; it is a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including European classical music....
 to the devil
Devil

The Devil is the title given to the supernatural being, who, in mainstream Christianity, Islam, and some other religions, is believed to be a powerful, evil entity and the tempter of humankind....
 for a book that predicts the future of the economy
Economic system

An economic system or ?conomic system is a system that involves the Economic production, distribution and consumption of Good and Service between the entities in a particular society....
. The music is scored for a septet
Septet

A septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit....
 of violin
Violin

The violin is a Bow string instrument with four strings usually tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest and highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which also includes the viola and cello....
, double bass
Double bass

The double bass or contrabass is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow string instrument used in the modern orchestra. It is a standard member of the string section of the orchestra and smaller string musical ensembles in European classical music....
, clarinet
Clarinet

The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et meaning little to the Italian word clarino meaning a particular type of trumpet, as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet....
, bassoon
Bassoon

The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the Bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher....
, cornet
Cornet

Not to be confused with coronetThe cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical Bore , compact shape, and mellower tone quality....
 (often played on trumpet
Trumpet

The trumpet is a musical instrument with the highest Register in the brass instrument family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BC....
), trombone
Trombone

The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass instrument family. Like all brass instruments, it is a lip-reed aerophone: sound is produced when the player?s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate....
, and percussion
Percussion instrument

A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound by being hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration....
, and the story is told by three actors: the soldier, the devil, and a narrator
Narrator

A narrator is, within any story , the entity that tells the story to the audience. The narrator --or, the archaic female equivalent, narratress-- is one of three entities responsible for story-telling of any kind....
, who also takes on the roles of minor characters. A dance
Dance

Dance is an art form that generally refers to Motion of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of Emotional expression, social social interaction or presented in a spirituality or performance setting....
r plays the non-speaking role of the princess, and there may also be additional ensemble dancers. The piece was written for small ensemble to compensate for the lack of players due to World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
 (since so many were enlisted in the armed services).

The libretto has been translated into English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 by Michael Flanders
Michael Flanders

Michael Henry Flanders Order of the British Empire, was an England actor, Broadcast journalism, and writer and performer of Novelty song. He is best known to the general public for his partnership with Donald Swann performing as the double act Flanders and Swann....
 and Kitty Black, and by Jeremy Sams
Jeremy Sams

Jeremy Sams is a United Kingdom Film director, writer, translator, orchestrator, musical director, film composer, and lyricist.Sams studied Music, French, and German at Magdalene College, Cambridge and piano at Guildhall School of Music....
, and into German
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
 by Hans Reinhart.

A full performance of Histoire du soldat takes about an hour. The music is in the modernist
Modernism (music)

Modernism in music is characterized by a desire for or belief in progress and science, surrealism, anti-romanticism, political advocacy, general intellectualism, and/or a breaking with the past or common practice period ? Ezra Pound's modernist slogan, "Make it new," as applied to music....
 style and is rife with changing time signature
Time signature

The time signature is a notational convention used in Western culture musical notation to specify how many beat s are in each bar and what note value constitutes one beat....
s. For this reason, it is commonly performed with a conductor
Conducting

Conducting is the act of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. Orchestras, choirs, concert bands and other musical ensembles often have conductors....
, though some ensembles have elected to perform the piece without one. Much of the music – especially the concerto
Concerto

The term Concerto usually refers to a three-part musical work in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra. The concerto, as understood in this modern way, arose in the Baroque period side by side with the concerto grosso, which contrasted a small group of instruments with the rest of the orchestra....
-like violin part – is considered virtuosic
Virtuoso

A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa....
.

The work was premiered in Lausanne
Lausanne

Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French language-speaking part of Switzerland, situated on the shores of Lake Geneva , and facing ?vian-les-Bains and with the Jura mountains to its north-west....
 on 28 September 1918, conducted by Ernest Ansermet
Ernest Ansermet

Ernest Alexandre Ansermet was a Switzerland Conducting....
.

Stravinsky was assisted greatly in the production of the work by the Swiss philanthropist Werner Reinhart
Werner Reinhart

Werner Reinhart was a Swiss industrialist, philanthropist, amateur clarinettist, and patron of composers and writers, particularly Igor Stravinsky and Rainer Maria Rilke....
. Reinhart sponsored and largely underwrote the premiere. In gratitude, Stravinsky dedicated the work to Reinhart, and even gave him the original manuscript. Reinhart continued his support of Stravinsky’s work in 1919 by funding a series of concerts of his recent chamber music. These included a concert suite
Suite

In music, a suite is an ordered set of instrumental or orchestral pieces normally performed in a concert setting rather than as accompaniment; they may be extracts from an opera, ballet, or incidental music to a play or film , or they may be entirely original movements ....
 of five numbers from The Soldier’s Tale, arranged for clarinet, violin, and piano, which was a nod to Reinhart, who was an excellent amateur clarinettist. The suite was first performed on 8 November 1919, in Lausanne, long before the better-known suite for the seven original instruments became known.

Synopsis


Part 1

As the work opens, Joseph, a Russian soldier, marches toward his hometown on leave
Leave

Leave may be:* Permission for absence:** Garden leave** Leave ** Leave, use of paid time off** Parental leave* Leave :**Leave , a song by American rock band R.E.M....
, pack in tow. ("Marche du soldat"/"The Soldier's March") He rests by a stream and rummages through his pack. First he takes out his lucky St. Joseph medallion, then a mirror, then a photograph of his girlfriend. Finally, he finds what he was searching for: his fiddle. He begins to play. ("Petit airs au bord du ruisseau"/"Airs by a Stream") The devil appears disguised as an old man carrying a butterfly net, but Joseph does not notice him and continues to play. The devil sneaks up on Joseph from behind and startles him.

The devil asks Joseph to sell him his fiddle, and when Joseph refuses, he offers him a book that he says contains untold wealth. Joseph does not understand the book, but the devil convinces him that it's worth more than his cheap fiddle. Joseph then realizes the book contains events that happen in the future! The devil offers to take Joseph home for three days to teach him about the book if Joseph will teach him about the fiddle. After the devil describes the life of luxury he lives, Joseph accepts. After three days pass, the devil takes Joseph home. (Reprise: "Marche du soldat")

As Joseph walks the path towards his town, he notices something strange: everyone runs away as they see him. Finally, he arrives at his fiancée's house only to see her with her husband and children. Finally, he realizes that three years – not three days – have passed, and that the residents of the town 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 power of the book. Joseph started off as a peddler. With the knowledge he gained from the book, he quickly amassed great wealth. Soon, he realizes this material wealth means nothing, and all he wants is the things he had before – the things everyone else has. ("Petite airs au bord du ruisseau (reprise)") He realizes the poor have nothing in terms of material wealth, yet they have it all when it comes to happiness. He gets agitated and starts looking through the book for the solution, yet cannot find anything.

The devil arrives disguised as an old female peddler. He takes some things out to sell to Joseph: first, a lucky medallion; next, a mirror; then, a photograph of a woman; finally, a fiddle. Joseph immediately perks up and tries to buy the fiddle from the devil. The devil hands Joseph the violin, but he can no longer play: the violin makes no sound. ("Petite airs au bord du ruisseau (reprise)") Joseph hurls the violin away and tears the book up.

Part 2

Joseph leaves his home with nothing. He marches past his old hometown. ("Marche du soldat (reprise)") 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. An old army buddy spots Joseph in the inn and convinces him he should pose as an army doctor and try to save the princess. Joseph leaves to see the king. ("Marche royale"/"The Royal March")

When he arrives at the palace, the devil is already there disguised as a virtuoso violinist. Joseph turns over some cards and gets an air of confidence when they are all hearts. Suddenly, the devil makes his presence known, clutching the violin to his chest, and taunts Joseph. The narrator tells Joseph the reason the devil controls him is because Joseph still has the devil's money, and if Joseph loses all his money to the devil in a card game, he will finally be free.

The plan works: the devil falls, and Joseph is free. He takes the violin and plays. ("Petit concert"/"The Little Concert") He triumphantally marches into the princess's chambers and starts to play another tune. The princess is miraculously resurrected by the music, and begins to dance. ("Trois danses"/"Three Dances" "1. Tango; 2. Valse; 3. Ragtime")

Joseph and the princess embrace. The devil arrives, and for the first time he is not disguised. As Joseph protects the princess from the devil, he realizes he can defeat the devil by playing his violin. ("Danse du diable"/"The Devil's Dance") The devil cannot resist the music and begins to contort. Exhausted, he falls to the ground. The soldier takes the princess's hand, and together they drag the devil away, then fall into each others' arms. ("Petit choral"/"Little Chorale")

The devil pops his head in and begins to torment the couple, warning them that Joseph may not leave the castle or the devil will regain control of him. ("Couplets du diable"/"The Devil's Song")

Over the "Grand Choral" ("Great Chorale"), the narrator tells the moral of the story:

The princess begins to get curious about Joseph's past, though Joseph knows he is forbidden to revisit it. Finally, she convinces him to sneak out of the palace and visit his mother. As they get near his hometown, Joseph goes ahead to find the frontier. As he arrives at his village, the devil is waiting for him, playing the violin. Joseph hangs his head and follows the devil slowly, but without resistance. ("Marche triomphale du diable"/"Triumphal March of the Devil")

Selected recordings

  • Gerard Depardieu
    Gérard Depardieu

    name = G?rard DepardieuNational Order of Quebec| image = G?rard Depardieu 2008.jpg| imagesize =| caption = G?rard Depardieu, 2008...
     (Devil), Guillaume Depardieu
    Guillaume Depardieu

    Guillaume Depardieu was a France actor....
     (Soldier), Carole Bouquet
    Carole Bouquet

    Carole Bouquet is a France actress and fashion model.Bouquet was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.She is best known internationally as Bond girl Melina Havelock in the 1981 movie For Your Eyes Only , although she featured in a number of mainstream European films throughout the 1980s and continues to do so in France....
     (Narrator): with Shlomo Mintz
    Shlomo Mintz

    Shlomo Mintz is a Israeli violin virtuoso, violist and Conductor . He regularly appears with orchestras and conductors on the international scene and is heard in recitals and chamber music concerts around the world....
     (violin and Conductor), Pascal Moragues (clarinette), Sergio Azzolini (basson), Marc Bauer (cornet), Daniel Breszynski (trombone), Vincent Pasquier (double bass), Michel Cerutti (percussion): Audio CD (B000003I1K) 1997 AUVIDIS VALOIS FRANCE .


  • Robert Helpmann
    Robert Helpmann

    Sir Robert Murray Helpmann Order of the British Empire was an Australian dancer, actor, Theatre director and choreographer. Born Robert Murray Helpman, he added the extra 'n' to avoid his name having 13 letters, at the suggestion of Anna Pavlova, who was a devotee of numerology....
     (Devil), Terence Longdon
    Terence Longdon

    Terence Longdon [age 86] is a British actor. He is best known for his lead role in the 1950s-1960s British TV series Garry Halliday. Most Americans will remember him as Drusus, Messala's personal aide in the film Ben-Hur ....
     (Soldier), Anthony Nicholls
    Anthony Nicholls (actor)

    Anthony Nicholls was an England film, television, and Stage actor....
     (Narrator): with Arthur Leavins (violin), Edmond Chesterman (double-bass), Jack Brymer
    Jack Brymer

    John Alexander Brymer , born in South Shields, was a United Kingdom clarinetist. In 1947 he followed Reginald Kell as principal clarinetist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra....
     (clarinet), Gwydion Brooke
    Gwydion Brooke

    Gwydion Brooke was the principal bassoonist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and a member of its "Royal Family" of wind instrumentalists, along with Jack Brymer , Dennis Brain , Richard Walton , Terence MacDonagh , and Gerald Jackson ....
     (bassoon), Richard Walton (cornet), Sidney Langston (trombone), Stephen Whittaker
    Stephen Whittaker

    Stephen Whittaker was an UK actor and film director. He worked largely in British film and television.In 2001 he filmed his final project The Rocket Post, a romantic drama set on a remote Scottish island....
     (timpani), conducted John Pritchard (Based on Glyndebourne Opera production 1954 at Edinburgh Festival
    Edinburgh Festival

    Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for several simultaneous Arts festival festivals that take place during August each year in Edinburgh, Scotland....
    ), LP HMV
    HMV

    His Master's Voice is a famous trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up phonograph....
     ALP 1377.


  • Robert Helpmann (Devil), Brian Phelan (Soldier), Svetlana Beriosova
    Svetlana Beriosova

    Svetlana Beriosova was a British prima ballerina who danced with the Royal Ballet for more than 20 years.Born in Kaunas, Lithuania, the daughter of Nicolas Beriosoff , a Lithuanian ballet master of ethnic Russian descent who emigrated to England, Svetlana Beriosova was brought in 1940 to the United States, where she studied ballet....
     (Princess), with Melos Ensemble of London
    Melos Ensemble of London

    The Melos Ensemble of London, often called simply the Melos Ensemble, is an association of classical chamber music musicians, founded in London in 1950 and re-founded in 1974, devoted to the performance of chamber music of all kinds....
    , film version 1964; Michael Burkitt (Director), Dennis Miller and Leonard Cassini (Producers), Richard Marden (Editor), BHE production.


  • Frank Zappa
    Frank Zappa

    Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, electric guitarist, record producer, and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock music, jazz, electronic music, orchestral, and musique concr?te works....
     recorded the march from A Soldier's Tale on his live album, Make a Jazz Noise Here. The same melody is also being used at the ending of 'Soft-Sell Conclusion' on one of his first albums, Absolutely Free
    Absolutely Free

    Absolutely Free is the second album by The Mothers of Invention, led by Frank Zappa. Absolutely Free is once again a display of complex musical composition and with political and social satire....
    .


Ballets


Balletmaster Peter Martins
Peter Martins

Peter Martins is a Denmark ballet dancer and choreographer. He was a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet and with New York City Ballet, where he joined George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and John Taras as balletmaster in 1981, retired from dancing in 1983 at which time he became co-balletmaster in chief with Robbins, and since 1990...
 made Suite from L'Histoire du Soldat on New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet

New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein with musical director Leon Barzin and with founding choreographers Balanchine and Jerome Robbins....
. The premiere was held January 29, 1981, at the New York State Theater
New York State Theater

The former New York State Theater was renamed the David H. Koch Theater at the New York City Ballet Winter gala on Tuesday, November 25, 2008....
, Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in New York City....
.

Original cast




  • Darci Kistler
    Darci Kistler

    Darci Kistler was one of the more noted American ballerinas of the 20th century, and was the last lead dancer for the legendary choreographer George Balanchine....
  • Kyra Nichols
  • Heather Watts
    Heather Watts

    Heather Watts is a retired United States prima ballerina and former principal dancer for the New York City Ballet.Watts studied at the School of American Ballet with Stanley Williams , Andre Eglevsky and Aleksandra Danilova....


  • Ib Andersen
    Ib Andersen

    Ib Andersen is a Denmark dancer and choreographer. He is currently the artistic director of Ballet Arizona in Phoenix, Arizona, Arizona.Internationally admired as both a dancer and choreographer, Andersen?s contribution to the world of dance is the product of a journey through multiple influences....
  • Jean-Pierre Frohlich
  • Victor Castelli
  • Bart Cook
  • Daniel Duell

Adaptations


In 1984, animator
Animation

Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. It is an optical illusion of Motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in a number of ways....
 R.O. Blechman created an animated version for PBS's
Public Broadcasting Service

The Public Broadcasting Service is an United States non-profit public broadcasting television service with 354 member TV stations in the United States....
 Great Performances
Great Performances

Great Performances is a television series devoted to the performing arts and has been aired on the U.S. television network PBS since 1972. The show is produced by WNET in New York City....
 featuring Max von Sydow
Max von Sydow

, is a Swedish people actor , known in particular for his collaboration with filmmaker Ingmar Bergman. He has been nominated for the Academy Award, the Emmy, and the Golden Globe, and has won the Pasinetti Award, the European Film Award, and the Honorary Cannes Award....
 as the voice of devil. This production was released on VHS
VHS

The Video Home System, better known by its abbreviation VHS, is a recording and playing standard developed by JVC and launched in Europe and Asia in September 1976, and the United States in June 1977....
 the next year and on DVD
DVD

DVD, also known as "Digital Versatile Disc" or "Digital Video Disc,"is a popular optical disc data storage device media format. Its main uses are video and data storage....
 in 2004.

In 1987, a version was recorded for CD, starring the voices of Sting (singer) as the soldier, Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave

Vanessa Redgrave Order of the British Empire is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Emmy and Tony Award winning England actor. She is the most famous member of the Redgrave family, the world renowned theatrical dynasty....
 as the Devil and Ian Mckellen
Ian McKellen

Sir Ian Murray McKellen, Order of the Companions of Honour, Order of the British Empire , is an England actor of theatre and film, the recipient of the Tony Award and two Academy Awards nominations....
 as the narrator.

In 1993, American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 novel
Novel

File:2009 stapelweise Neuerscheinungen im Buchladen.JPGA novel is today a long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern Romance and in the tradition of the novella....
ist Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a prolific and genre-bending American novelist known for works blending satire, black comedy and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five , Cat's Cradle , and Breakfast of Champions .He was also known for his Humanism beliefs and being honorary president of the American Humanist Association....
 reworked the libretto into a tale about World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 Private
Private (rank)

A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank . The term dates from the Middle Ages, where privates were known as "private soldiers" who were either hired, conscripted, or feudalism into service by a nobleman forming an army....
 Eddie Slovik
Eddie Slovik

Edward Donald Slovik was a private in the United States Army during World War II and the only American soldier to be Capital punishment by the United States military for cowardice since the Philippine-American War....
, the first soldier in the United States military to be executed for desertion
Desertion

In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission from one's Government or superior. Ultimate "duty" or "responsibility," however, under International Law, is not necessarily always to a "Government" nor to a "superior," as seen in the fourth of the Nuremberg Principles, which states:...
 since the Civil War
American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
.

In 1996 a complete version of The Soldier's Tale was performed at the Canadian Armed Forces School of Music, conducted by the Canadian composer
Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, usually in the medium of musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of music....
 Daniel Theaker
Daniel Theaker

Daniel George Theaker is a Neoromanticism composer, Conducting and woodwind instrumentalist. He is a self-described champion of the bass oboe and heckelphone, and a practitioner of the "Elastic scoring" orchestration techniques first conceived by Percy Grainger....
.

Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Marsalis

Wynton Learson Marsalis is an United States trumpeter and composer. He is among the most prominent jazz musicians of the modern era and is also a well-known instrumentalist in European classical music....
's composition A Fiddler's Tale, set to words by Stanley Crouch
Stanley Crouch

Stanley Crouch is an United States music and cultural critic, syndicated columnist, and novelist perhaps best known for his jazz criticism and his novel Don't the Moon Look Lonesome?...
, was composed as "a direct response" to A Soldier's Tale. In 1998 Marsalis recorded it with six musicians from The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and with André DeShields
André DeShields

Andr? DeShields is an United States actor, singer, dancer, acclaimed novelist, choreographer, and college professor.DeShields graduated from the Baltimore City College high school and received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master of Arts from New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Stu...
 as the story's narrator.

In 2004, Will Tuckett directed and choreographed The Soldier's Tale at the Royal Opera House.

In January 2006 Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Rebecca Lenkiewicz

Rebecca Lenkiewicz is a UK playwright, actor and poet, born in Plymouth, Devon. Her surname derives from the late Robert Lenkiewicz, a Plymouth artist who married her mother....
 and Abdulkareem Kasid created a new version of The Soldier's Tale, set in Iraq and staged by Andrew Steggall at the Old Vic
Old Vic

The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road, London. It became a Grade II* listed building in 1951....
 .

In 2008 the libretto was translated into Inuktitut by Inuit writer Zebedee Nungak for the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal's tour of Nunavik (the Inuit region of the province of Quebec in Canada) under the leadership of Maestro Kent Nagano.

Also in 2008 the libretto was translated to spanish by Mexican writter Hernán Galindo for the Orchestra of the University of Monterrey, UDEM. To be performed by the university's theatrical company.

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  • of the Kurt Vonnegut
    Kurt Vonnegut

    Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was a prolific and genre-bending American novelist known for works blending satire, black comedy and science fiction, such as Slaughterhouse-Five , Cat's Cradle , and Breakfast of Champions .He was also known for his Humanism beliefs and being honorary president of the American Humanist Association....
     adaptation


  • puppetry adaptation