, or Tale of the Soldier, as it was first published, is an hour-long 1918 theatrical work to be "read, played and danced ()" 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, who was 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.
