2 x music theatre: Peter and the Wolf and The Soldier’s Tale.
Peter and the Wolf dates from 1936 and was written for the Moscow Children’s Theatre with a story line by the composer himself. The work was didactic on two levels: it taught children the instruments of the orchestra and also encouraged them to adopt ‘good Soviet values’ (or, alternately to be eaten by wolves!). Here’s a particularly delightful puppetry realisation of the piece (though minus the third and final part, which I’ve failed to yet discover):
The Soldier’s Tale was composed in 1918 and was scored for seven instrumentalists, three actors and a dancer. Based on a Russian folktale, the original text, which was in French, was by the Swiss writer Charles Ramuz.
Compared to the musical language and enormous forces involved in The Rite of Spring its extreme pairing down demonstrates the remarkable adaptability that Stravinsky was to show throughout his career.
00:04 Marche du soldat
2:57 Petits airs au bord du ruisseau
13:52 Pastorale
29:03 Marche royale
35:31 Petit concert
39:02 Tango
41:10 Valse
43:10 Ragtime
45:32 Danse du diable
46:59 Petit choral
47:40 Couplets du diable
48:22 Grand choral
53:25 Marche triomphale du diable
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Iaago
The Art of Listening 