The Marshall Chamber Players, comprising Marshall University music faculty, will visit Ohio University to perform Stravinsky's famous "L'Histoire du Soldat" ("The Soldier's Tale") at 4 p.m. Sunday at the School of Music Recital Hall in Glidden Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
The piece, composed in 1918 during World War I, tells the story of a soldier coming home from war, who trades his fiddle to the devil for a book that knows the future of the economy -- something that many people wish they could obtain even 90 years later.
"It's really completely different from the work Stravinsky was writing at the time," said Michael Parkinson, director of the School of Music. "With the influence of the war, he didn't write the huge works he is so known for because many musicians had been enlisted."
Because so few musicians were available, each part includes only one instrument, meaning only the most talented musicians would be able to perform its difficult score that encompasses multiple genres.
"It includes elements of ragtime, early jazz and classical -- it almost sounds like the folk music of a 'town band' that gets together just for the joy of playing music," Parkinson said.
Meant to be a theatrical work, it includes narration and is told by three characters: the soldier, the devil and the narrator, all played by faulty members from Marshall University.
"It's such a great way to start the year with such a great concert. There's a lot of sarcasm and memorable melodies in the piece and people should be prepared to laugh throughout the performance," Parkinson said.
No comments:
Post a Comment