How the fortunes of war prompted Igor Stravinsky to pen ‘The Soldier’s Tale’

Economic circumstances led Igor Stravinsky to write The Soldier’s Tale, his 1918 theatrical work designed to be “read, played and danced” by three actors, one or more dancers and a small ensemble (usually, violin, bass, clarinet, bassoon, trombone, trumpet/cornet and percussion).

In his 1936 autobiography, Chronicle of My Life, Stravinsky recalled how World War I had drastically impacted his finances. Royalty payments from his German publishers had been delayed, and the disruption of the Russian Revolution had cut off income from his family. He and his librettist, the Swiss-born writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz (who had previously collaborated with Stravinsky on the ballet Les Noces), wanted to write something that could be produced simply and economically.

“Ramuz and I got hold of the idea of creating a sort of a little traveling theater piece, easy to transport from place to place and to show in even small localities,” Stravinsky wrote in Chronicle. “We were particularly drawn to the cycle of legends dealing with the adventures of the soldier who deserts, and the Devil who inexorably comes to carry off his soul.” 

Thus, L’Histoire du soldat (the original title, in French) was born. Calling for a dancer, three speaking parts and seven instrumentalists, it has proven to be successful on a worldwide scale ever since its first performance in Lausanne, Switzerland, in September 1918. (The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, in collaboration with The Goodman, will present three semi-staged performances Oct. 23-25 at Orchestra Hall. Costumes, props and lighting will be employed in this Faustian fable of a soldier-fiddler who makes a pact with the devil. The program opens with Stravinsky’s Fanfare for a New Theater, Septet and Octet, followed after intermission by The Soldier’s Tale.)

It tells of the Soldier who trades his magic violin to the Devil, for the promise of fulfilling his every wish. Among his many encounters, the Soldier cures the daughter (a silent role, portrayed by a dancer) of a King. Throughout the saga, the Devil proves to be a cunning adversary at every turn. The work explores themes of morality vs. greed; it questions the lengths to which one might go for personal advantage and whether it warrants the ensuing price.

Annotator Orrin Howard points out how The Soldier’s Tale played a crucial role in Stravinsky’s musical evolution: “The music itself has a raw, biting edge that slices away any and all vestiges of Romanticism, exposing a sardonic heart that beats with constantly shifting rhythmic accents, is propelled by obsessive ostinatos (a device to which the composer was dedicated throughout his life), and sets up dissonances that crackle abrasively within an essentially diatonic harmonic structure.”

For the CSO/Goodman production, which uses a new translation by Liz Diamond, after Ramuz’s original French libretto, Stefan Asbury conducts and Steve Scott directs. The cast consists of actors Jordan Arredondo as the Soldier, John Lister as the Devil and Cindy Gold as the Reader (narrator). The CSO musicians performing will be Robert Chen (violin), Keith Buncke (bassoon), Alexander Hanna (bass), Esteban Batallán (trumpet), Stephen Williamson (clarinet), Cynthia Yeh (percussion) and Timothy Higgins (trombone).