The creation of “Soldier’s History” is closely linked to war. With the local theater closed in 1918, the last year of the war, Stravinsky and Swiss writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz decided to create a work that required neither a large hall nor a large audience to be effective. The result was a theatrical work for a small ensemble consisting of a narrator, two actors, a dancer and seven musicians. Added to this is the tight construction of the work, in which the scenes and musical sections follow one another like a suite. Just as in his ballets, Stravinsky draws on the dancing energy of his music, which includes not only various marching rhythms, but also tango, waltz, and ragtime. The speech is also full of rhythmic vitality and is impressively rendered by the extremely adaptable voices of Jean Cocteau as the Narrator, and Peter Ustinov as the Devil. Igor Markevitch encourages the excellent musicians of his small orchestra with enthusiasm and precision, the trumpet part brilliantly performed by the young Maurice André being particularly remarkable.
According to The Ideal Discotheque of Classical Music published by Actes Sud / Classica, The Story of the Soldier, Stravinsky, direction: Igor Markevitch, from 1962 is the reference version with a Narrator of choice: Jean Cocteau. The notice specifies: “The change of scenery is guaranteed by the sharp, virtuoso and acid direction of Igor Markevitch! “.
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