Soldier's Tale
Pedagogical Guide
Activities
Pacts with the Devil
The work and its inspiration
The work’s creators and context
The Work and its Inspiration
While partly an adaptation of Russian tales by Alexander Afanasiev, The Soldier’s Tale claims no historical or geographical contextualization, instead bearing the universal characteristics its authors intended. In this unusual work, the words are spoken and the music consists of a highly efficient and brilliantly orchestrated collage of Russian dances, as well as parodies of a Lutheran chorale, a march, a waltz, a tango, and a Ragtime piece.
The story of… The Soldier’s Tale
One story, two versions by the OSM
Spoken, played and sung
More about the work
The Story of… The Soldier’s Tale
One Story, Two Versions
It was in the middle of the deadliest pandemic of the 20th century, in September 1918, that Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale was premiered. Behind the diabolical aura that enfolds and permeates this heavily ironic work, Stravinsky was living proof that, faced with meeting the needs of existence, the artist can marshal exceptional skill and outstanding resilience. The brilliant and unfading gem he crafted with this work still captivates our gaze to this day. It is in the spirit of resilience that the OSM presents The Soldier’s Tale in two versions.
Production in French
PRODUCTION IN ENGLISH In collaboration with Black Theatre Workshop
DID YOU KNOW ?
Spoken, Played and Sung
NARRATION AND PLAYING Narration plays a central role in The Soldier’s Tale. While there is indeed a narrative, strictly speaking, there are no characters being played: the roles are interchangeable, and one actor can play both the Devil and Soldier at the same time! What fascinated Stravinsky was not so much the meaning of the words as much as their sounds and the sensory effect that their sequence produces for listeners — just like music does! STAGINGThe context of war forced Stravinsky to narrow down his work to essentials by writing for an “odd little orchestra” strongly influenced by jazz and made up of 7 musicians. The staging is also modest: it consists of a small mobile stage where the orchestra is placed to the right, while to the left, the narrator is seated at a table with a small bottle of white wine and a glass.
The originality of The Soldier’s Tale undoubtedly flows from circumstances under which it was produced. Restrictions imposed by the war compelled its authors to write a concise work with an economy of means that, far from impairing Stravinsky, gave him the opportunity to further develop different facets of his artistry. “Why not make it simple?” suggested Ramuz. The idea of a theatrical piece combining narration, music, and dance, suitable for a broader public, was thus introduced. This new work called for seven musicians, conductor Ernest Ansermet, two dancers, and three voice actors. In this form, its first public performance took place in Lausanne in September of 1918, thanks to the generous patronage of a wealthy tea merchant from Winterthur, Werner Reinhart.
MORE
Spoken, Played and Sung
MUSICIANS The instrumentation of The Soldier’s Tale is no accident! It was with the idea of representing the four main families of instruments at either extreme of the register (one high instrument and one low) that Stravinsky selected the trumpet, the trombone, the violin, the double bass, the clarinet, the bassoon, and percussion.
Marianne Dugal violin
Todd Cope clarinet
Thomas Le Duc-Moreau conductor
Ali Kian Yazdanfar double bass
Serge Desgagnés percussion
Paul Merkelo trompet
Patrice Richer trombone
Stéphane Lévesque bassoon
More about the Work
DOCUMENTARY FILM
From famous conductor and composer Pierre Boulez, to bass player for Pink Floyd Roger Waters, all agree that The Soldier’s Tale is undeniably a work that has made history. Here is a selection of resources that offer new perspectives on it.
ANIMATED FILM
GRAPHIC NOVEL
OTHER PRODUCTION
K4N41W Igor Stravinsky with Ramuz in Lavaux, 1928. Russian composer, 1882-1971.
The Work’s Creators and Context
The Soldier’s Tale is not simply the story of a soldier whose violin and very soul are snatched from him by the Devil. It is also the story, in 1918, of a fruitful collaboration between Stravinsky, who at the time was exiled in Switzerland and writer Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz.
Igor Stravinsky
Charles-ferdinand Ramuz
The Spanish flu of 1918
Igor Stravinsky
EARLY LIFE Igor Stravinsky was born in Oranienbaum, Russia on June 17, 1882. His father, an accomplished bass player with the St. Petersburg Opera, introduced him to the works of great composers very early on. In the Stravinsky household, music was omnipresent. The young Igor began piano lessons at the age of 9 and his talents already pointed the way toward a bright future. THE RUSSIAN TRADITION While he was studying law, Stravinsky made the acquaintance of the son of Rimsky-Korsakov, who introduced him to his father. This new connection facilitated Stravinsky’s rigorous studies in composition from 1902 to 1908. At the age of 27, Stravinsky wrote his first orchestral work: Fireworks, which he dedicated to his teacher and which marked the beginning of his career. Until 1910, Stravinsky composed within the great Russian tradition, influenced by Rimsky-Korsakov’s instruction.
THE BALLETS RUSSESThe ensuing years were marked by Stravinsky’s development of an individual style after he was invited to compose for Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. Stravinsky gradually moved away from the Russian tradition in favour of chromaticism, polytonality, and polyrhythms. EXILE IN SWITZERLANDThe year 1914 marked the beginning of the First World War. The Ballets Russes had to cease operations and Stravinsky was obliged to compose for reduced numbers of musicians. After fleeing to Switzerland, the composer found himself with considerably less work and his financial situation became precarious. Focusing in this context on finding simple performance means, Stravinsky and the writer Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz began to develop travelling work: The Soldier’s Tale was born.
more
Igor Stravinsky
YEARS IN PARIS After the War, Stravinsky and his family moved to Paris. This marked his neoclassical period, when he was inspired by music of the past and often made reference to Mozart and Handel. Stravinsky kept company with artists living in interwar Paris, where the arts and culture flourished. SERIALISM PERIODThe advent of World War II drove Stravinsky and his family into exile once again. Like certain other European composers, he fled to Hollywood. In this last main compositional period, he explored twelve-tone techniques developed by Berg, Schoenberg and Webern. FINAL YEARSStravinsky being himself a member of the Orthodox Church since 1926, his last works are strongly influenced by religious themes.
The composer died in New York City on April 6, 1971. His remains are buried in Venice, close to those of his friend Diaghilev.
ABOUT POLYTONALITY...Polytonality consists of playing several musical motifs that do not relate to the same key simultaneously. For example, Stravinsky superimposes an E major chord with an E-flat major 7th chord in The Rite of Spring ABOUT POLYRHYTM...Polyrhythm, as opposed to homorhytm, consists in overlaying two or more different rhythms simultaneously. Hear the difference in these two excerpts from Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring Polyrhytm Homorythm
DID YOU KNOW ?
K4N41W Igor Stravinsky with Ramuz in Lavaux, 1928. Russian composer, 1882-1971.
Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz
RETURN TO SWITZERLAND Once back in Lausanne, he became involved as the editorial director of a literary magazine called the Cahiers vaudois. After this return to Switzerland, he became interested in other art forms, including the visual arts and music. He wrote about Paul Cézanne and met Stravinsky, with whom he created The Soldier’s Tale. ARTISTIC FREEDOMRamuz’s writing style became more distinct in subsequent years. His writing was more direct and less descriptive, reflecting his characters, who were mainly peasants and mountain people. This style attracted its share of criticism, and his writing was considered as crude and lacking in finesse. Ramuz was to enure similar criticism for the remainder of his career. THE HEIGHT OF HIS CAREERBeginning in 1925, C. F. Ramuz was at the height of his career and signed on with the Parisian publisher Éditions Grasset. He published major works including The Great Fear in the Mountain. Toward the end of his life, he published various essays on politics and societal issues as well as autobiographical accounts. Until his death in 1947, he lived with his family in the villa of “La Muette” in Pully, on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz was born in Lausanne in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland on September 24, 1878. YEARS IN PARIS After completing his studies in literature at the University of Lausanne, he began a doctorate at the Sorbonne University in Paris, where he kept company with French and Swiss artists and writers, such as Charles-Albert Cingria and painter René Auberjonois. It was also in Paris that he published his first collection of poetry (1903) as well as several novels including Aline (1905), The Circumstances of Life (1907) and Jean-Luc Persecuted (1909). These early works afforded him a certain notoriety and the recognition of his peers.
did you know ?
The Spanish Flu of 1918
HEALTH CRISIS From September 12 to 15, 1918, a Eucharistic Congress held in Victoriaville brought some 40,000 visitors to the region. From that point on, the virus spread like lightening. While the town of Victoriaville experienced an especially high mortality rate, other regions of Quebec were also seriously affected. In Montreal, the closure of schools, theatres, cinemas, and public spaces was ordered from October 8 onward. Fatalities mounted, with those infected sometimes dying mere hours after the onset of symptoms. END OF THE PANDEMIC As a ray of light in the deepest moment of this bleak pandemic, the end of the war came on November 11, 1918. The announcement rekindled people’s hope, enabling them to better face the difficulties of daily life. Little by little, life began to return to normal, cultural venues began to reopen, offering diversion and comfort to the public. Quebecers were able to celebrate Christmas with their families that year and the epidemic waned over the course of the spring of 1919.
The so-called Spanish Flu virus killed roughly 50 million people in only a few months, and Quebec was by no means spared. THE WAR OF 1914-1918 The first strain of the virus was discovered in March 1918 in a soldier’s camp in Texas. It emerged during a global conflict, the Great War, when barracks and trenches were filled with high concentrations of soldiers living in poor sanitary conditions. Human-animal contact was a daily occurrence; the citizens of countries at war were subject to rations; maritime traffic was at its highest peak of activity. All these conditions conspired to rapidly spread this novel virus, which hit populations at maximum strength. It spread through Europe first, India next, along with the rest of Asia, until the entire world reeled under its deadly hold toward the end of 1918.
Pacts with the Devil
The first demons
Witch hunts
Before this theme became the basis for several present-day fictional and non-literary works, without being a historical truth, a pact with the Devil initially informed numerous, not necessarily fictional stories. Here are a few examples :
Faust by Goethe
The chasse-galerie
Paganini
Devil's Advocate
Death Note
The Rolling Stones
The first Demons
In the 5th century, Saint Augustine broached the topic of a “demonic pact.” He was denouncing pagan beliefs: as a convert to Christianity, he viewed these beliefs as archaic. Thus, the original pact with the Devil was equivalent to the practice of old rites at a time when the Christian church sought eternal status as the City of God, superseding a perishable Rome whose decline was heralded by Barbarian invasions. This narrative rapidly donned more literal meaning as it was endorsed and spread by preachers. Subsequent iterations of Christian iconography show demons transformed into hirsute, goat-like beings which, according to sources, are rooted in every manner of archetypes from the satyrs of Greek mythology to stepmothers from Saskatchewan. The phenomenon hence took a more literal turn, becoming a pact with a cloven-hooved, sulphur-smelling creature. People were now quick to attribute any situation that deviated ever so slightly from the established order to collusion with Satan: social advancement, greater knowledge, longevity...
Witch hunts
From the 14th to 18th centuries, a Catholic world disrupted among other things by the wars of religion, spearheaded several sombre efforts to maintain its dominance. This unfortunate period is difficult to reconcile with the historical Renaissance, for it saw a proliferation of far-fetched accusations and misogynistic pamphlets. Until this period, sorcery had often been the purview of men, but now the idea had emerged that women’s natural weakness and their malice as vile temptresses made them suitable receptacles for the Devil. The Inquisition imposed an iron-fisted trial procedure which consisted of torturing the accused until they confessed, while also regarding the absence of a confession as an admission of guilt. Still present in the popular imagination today are the names of massacre sites such as Salem, Massachusetts, where collective hysteria sentenced a hundred or so alleged witches, and caused the lynching of twenty among them in 1692-93.
Faust by Goethe
The theme of a pact with the Devil inspired many prominent works of literature, the most famous being Faust, which emerged in the late 15th century in the wake of the semi-legendary figure of Doctor Faustus, a character halfway between an impressive charlatan and a highwayman prophet. His legend was published anonymously at the end of the 16th century and was immediately seized by the English playwright Christopher Marlowe who brought it to the public stage. From then on, the story of Faust became anchored as a recurring theme in literature, poetry, and music, but it was the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who elevated it to prominence in two verse plays: Faust, published in 1808 and Faust II in 1832 (posthumous). Faust is a tormented work in which the characters and their ruminations echo Goethe’s private life. Its sentimentalist and libertarian qualities bring it within the esthetic range of the German Sturm und Drang movement.
DID YOU KNOW ?
The chasse-galerie
Literature is not the only cultural domain over which the Devil casts his net; gradually, he seeps into all art forms and mediums of expression. In folk culture, the theme has a long history of appropriation, flowing into many legends. Who among us has not been tempted to board a supercharged vessel such as a flying canoe to reach one’s beloved in record time? The Quebec folk legend of La Chasse-galerie, notably adapted by Honoré Beaugrand from a French legend in 1891, features a group of loggers who seal a pact with the Devil that will enable them to visit their sweethearts in the city. Packed together in their flying canoe, the loggers must carefully avoid the most vexing pitfalls under pain of eternal damnation, despite the many twists and turns that arise during their journey… This well-known Quebec folk tale also inspired many composers and musicians:
Here is a version by Claude Dubois: And one by the folk group La Bottine souriante:
Paganini
The Genoese violonist and guitarist Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840) was a true performing and composing genius. He revolutioned the playing technique of both of his preferred instruments. His virtuosity was so that many concert programs described Paganini as possessed by the devil, and few pretended that his melodies were dicted by Satan himself. After his death, the Catholic Church, judging his talent unholy, refused that he be buried religiously!
N. Paganini, Caprice for solo violin Op. 1 No. 5 :
The Devil's Advocate
Naturally, film is no exception to the Devil’s rule: several productions focus on the hair-raising aspect of the pact with the Devil to foment horror, although horror films are not the only genre to harness diabolical plots. Directed by American filmmaker Taylor Hackford in 1997, the dark thriller The Devil’s Advocate follows the story of a successful young lawyer, played by Keanu Reeves, who, blinded by his ambition, accepts a lucrative proposal to work for a large firm tasked with representing several dubious cases. Quickly enough, demonic visions begin to shake his convictions and drive his wife to the edge of madness; what if his boss John Milton, played by Al Pacino, was the Devil incarnate, no less?
The Rolling Stones
The world of popular music can also boast its share of proponents of black magic and Satanist iconography. Members of the iconic British rock band The Rolling Stones have notoriously remained ambiguous in this respect: the cover of their album Goat’s Head Soup displays a demonic brew, and the earlier song Sympathy for the Devil repeatedly draws connections between the devil and human beings with their unceasing appetite for atrocities.
The Rolling Stones, Sympathy for the Devil (1968) :
Death Note
One of the most impressive productions in this genre remains, however, the manga series Death Note by the outstanding author and illustrator duo of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. A teen whiz named Light comes across a notebook belonging to a demonic entity, which grants the user diabolical powers: one need only write down a person’s name and the circumstances of their death for their fate to be realized. While at first, Light attempts to use this powerful artifact to rid the world of criminals, power soon goes to his head and, as the story progresses, his psychological decline turns him into a wanted criminal, his once-honourable aspirations now giving way to the vilest and most murderous impulses.
Activities
In The Soldier’s Tale by Stravinsky, a Soldier attempts to win back his soul by playing dice with the Devil. But not to worry, you won’t be asked to bet your soul against a pair of sixes! The activities below, which can be done individually or as a group, will test your knowledge and help you to appreciate Stravinsky’s distinctive aesthetic and sound plays.
Match the musical style
Music librarian in trouble
Creative activity
Creative activity
STEPs to follow :
scenario
In teams of 6 persons: 4 “actors” and 2 “musicians,” we invite you to produce a story from scratch, from the medium used all the way to the staging. The challenge in this activity is to adapt to the current context of the pandemic, just like Stravinsky and Ramuz had to do in the time of the Spanish flu.
STEP 2 Determine your staging
STEP 1 Construct your storyline
STEP 4 Assign roles
STEP 3 Create your soundtrack
Soldier's Tale
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Transcript
Soldier's Tale
Pedagogical Guide
Activities
Pacts with the Devil
The work and its inspiration
The work’s creators and context
The Work and its Inspiration
While partly an adaptation of Russian tales by Alexander Afanasiev, The Soldier’s Tale claims no historical or geographical contextualization, instead bearing the universal characteristics its authors intended. In this unusual work, the words are spoken and the music consists of a highly efficient and brilliantly orchestrated collage of Russian dances, as well as parodies of a Lutheran chorale, a march, a waltz, a tango, and a Ragtime piece.
The story of… The Soldier’s Tale
One story, two versions by the OSM
Spoken, played and sung
More about the work
The Story of… The Soldier’s Tale
One Story, Two Versions
It was in the middle of the deadliest pandemic of the 20th century, in September 1918, that Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale was premiered. Behind the diabolical aura that enfolds and permeates this heavily ironic work, Stravinsky was living proof that, faced with meeting the needs of existence, the artist can marshal exceptional skill and outstanding resilience. The brilliant and unfading gem he crafted with this work still captivates our gaze to this day. It is in the spirit of resilience that the OSM presents The Soldier’s Tale in two versions.
Production in French
PRODUCTION IN ENGLISH In collaboration with Black Theatre Workshop
DID YOU KNOW ?
Spoken, Played and Sung
NARRATION AND PLAYING Narration plays a central role in The Soldier’s Tale. While there is indeed a narrative, strictly speaking, there are no characters being played: the roles are interchangeable, and one actor can play both the Devil and Soldier at the same time! What fascinated Stravinsky was not so much the meaning of the words as much as their sounds and the sensory effect that their sequence produces for listeners — just like music does! STAGINGThe context of war forced Stravinsky to narrow down his work to essentials by writing for an “odd little orchestra” strongly influenced by jazz and made up of 7 musicians. The staging is also modest: it consists of a small mobile stage where the orchestra is placed to the right, while to the left, the narrator is seated at a table with a small bottle of white wine and a glass.
The originality of The Soldier’s Tale undoubtedly flows from circumstances under which it was produced. Restrictions imposed by the war compelled its authors to write a concise work with an economy of means that, far from impairing Stravinsky, gave him the opportunity to further develop different facets of his artistry. “Why not make it simple?” suggested Ramuz. The idea of a theatrical piece combining narration, music, and dance, suitable for a broader public, was thus introduced. This new work called for seven musicians, conductor Ernest Ansermet, two dancers, and three voice actors. In this form, its first public performance took place in Lausanne in September of 1918, thanks to the generous patronage of a wealthy tea merchant from Winterthur, Werner Reinhart.
MORE
Spoken, Played and Sung
MUSICIANS The instrumentation of The Soldier’s Tale is no accident! It was with the idea of representing the four main families of instruments at either extreme of the register (one high instrument and one low) that Stravinsky selected the trumpet, the trombone, the violin, the double bass, the clarinet, the bassoon, and percussion.
Marianne Dugal violin
Todd Cope clarinet
Thomas Le Duc-Moreau conductor
Ali Kian Yazdanfar double bass
Serge Desgagnés percussion
Paul Merkelo trompet
Patrice Richer trombone
Stéphane Lévesque bassoon
More about the Work
DOCUMENTARY FILM
From famous conductor and composer Pierre Boulez, to bass player for Pink Floyd Roger Waters, all agree that The Soldier’s Tale is undeniably a work that has made history. Here is a selection of resources that offer new perspectives on it.
ANIMATED FILM
GRAPHIC NOVEL
OTHER PRODUCTION
K4N41W Igor Stravinsky with Ramuz in Lavaux, 1928. Russian composer, 1882-1971.
The Work’s Creators and Context
The Soldier’s Tale is not simply the story of a soldier whose violin and very soul are snatched from him by the Devil. It is also the story, in 1918, of a fruitful collaboration between Stravinsky, who at the time was exiled in Switzerland and writer Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz.
Igor Stravinsky
Charles-ferdinand Ramuz
The Spanish flu of 1918
Igor Stravinsky
EARLY LIFE Igor Stravinsky was born in Oranienbaum, Russia on June 17, 1882. His father, an accomplished bass player with the St. Petersburg Opera, introduced him to the works of great composers very early on. In the Stravinsky household, music was omnipresent. The young Igor began piano lessons at the age of 9 and his talents already pointed the way toward a bright future. THE RUSSIAN TRADITION While he was studying law, Stravinsky made the acquaintance of the son of Rimsky-Korsakov, who introduced him to his father. This new connection facilitated Stravinsky’s rigorous studies in composition from 1902 to 1908. At the age of 27, Stravinsky wrote his first orchestral work: Fireworks, which he dedicated to his teacher and which marked the beginning of his career. Until 1910, Stravinsky composed within the great Russian tradition, influenced by Rimsky-Korsakov’s instruction.
THE BALLETS RUSSESThe ensuing years were marked by Stravinsky’s development of an individual style after he was invited to compose for Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes. Stravinsky gradually moved away from the Russian tradition in favour of chromaticism, polytonality, and polyrhythms. EXILE IN SWITZERLANDThe year 1914 marked the beginning of the First World War. The Ballets Russes had to cease operations and Stravinsky was obliged to compose for reduced numbers of musicians. After fleeing to Switzerland, the composer found himself with considerably less work and his financial situation became precarious. Focusing in this context on finding simple performance means, Stravinsky and the writer Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz began to develop travelling work: The Soldier’s Tale was born.
more
Igor Stravinsky
YEARS IN PARIS After the War, Stravinsky and his family moved to Paris. This marked his neoclassical period, when he was inspired by music of the past and often made reference to Mozart and Handel. Stravinsky kept company with artists living in interwar Paris, where the arts and culture flourished. SERIALISM PERIODThe advent of World War II drove Stravinsky and his family into exile once again. Like certain other European composers, he fled to Hollywood. In this last main compositional period, he explored twelve-tone techniques developed by Berg, Schoenberg and Webern. FINAL YEARSStravinsky being himself a member of the Orthodox Church since 1926, his last works are strongly influenced by religious themes.
The composer died in New York City on April 6, 1971. His remains are buried in Venice, close to those of his friend Diaghilev.
ABOUT POLYTONALITY...Polytonality consists of playing several musical motifs that do not relate to the same key simultaneously. For example, Stravinsky superimposes an E major chord with an E-flat major 7th chord in The Rite of Spring ABOUT POLYRHYTM...Polyrhythm, as opposed to homorhytm, consists in overlaying two or more different rhythms simultaneously. Hear the difference in these two excerpts from Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring Polyrhytm Homorythm
DID YOU KNOW ?
K4N41W Igor Stravinsky with Ramuz in Lavaux, 1928. Russian composer, 1882-1971.
Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz
RETURN TO SWITZERLAND Once back in Lausanne, he became involved as the editorial director of a literary magazine called the Cahiers vaudois. After this return to Switzerland, he became interested in other art forms, including the visual arts and music. He wrote about Paul Cézanne and met Stravinsky, with whom he created The Soldier’s Tale. ARTISTIC FREEDOMRamuz’s writing style became more distinct in subsequent years. His writing was more direct and less descriptive, reflecting his characters, who were mainly peasants and mountain people. This style attracted its share of criticism, and his writing was considered as crude and lacking in finesse. Ramuz was to enure similar criticism for the remainder of his career. THE HEIGHT OF HIS CAREERBeginning in 1925, C. F. Ramuz was at the height of his career and signed on with the Parisian publisher Éditions Grasset. He published major works including The Great Fear in the Mountain. Toward the end of his life, he published various essays on politics and societal issues as well as autobiographical accounts. Until his death in 1947, he lived with his family in the villa of “La Muette” in Pully, on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz was born in Lausanne in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland on September 24, 1878. YEARS IN PARIS After completing his studies in literature at the University of Lausanne, he began a doctorate at the Sorbonne University in Paris, where he kept company with French and Swiss artists and writers, such as Charles-Albert Cingria and painter René Auberjonois. It was also in Paris that he published his first collection of poetry (1903) as well as several novels including Aline (1905), The Circumstances of Life (1907) and Jean-Luc Persecuted (1909). These early works afforded him a certain notoriety and the recognition of his peers.
did you know ?
The Spanish Flu of 1918
HEALTH CRISIS From September 12 to 15, 1918, a Eucharistic Congress held in Victoriaville brought some 40,000 visitors to the region. From that point on, the virus spread like lightening. While the town of Victoriaville experienced an especially high mortality rate, other regions of Quebec were also seriously affected. In Montreal, the closure of schools, theatres, cinemas, and public spaces was ordered from October 8 onward. Fatalities mounted, with those infected sometimes dying mere hours after the onset of symptoms. END OF THE PANDEMIC As a ray of light in the deepest moment of this bleak pandemic, the end of the war came on November 11, 1918. The announcement rekindled people’s hope, enabling them to better face the difficulties of daily life. Little by little, life began to return to normal, cultural venues began to reopen, offering diversion and comfort to the public. Quebecers were able to celebrate Christmas with their families that year and the epidemic waned over the course of the spring of 1919.
The so-called Spanish Flu virus killed roughly 50 million people in only a few months, and Quebec was by no means spared. THE WAR OF 1914-1918 The first strain of the virus was discovered in March 1918 in a soldier’s camp in Texas. It emerged during a global conflict, the Great War, when barracks and trenches were filled with high concentrations of soldiers living in poor sanitary conditions. Human-animal contact was a daily occurrence; the citizens of countries at war were subject to rations; maritime traffic was at its highest peak of activity. All these conditions conspired to rapidly spread this novel virus, which hit populations at maximum strength. It spread through Europe first, India next, along with the rest of Asia, until the entire world reeled under its deadly hold toward the end of 1918.
Pacts with the Devil
The first demons
Witch hunts
Before this theme became the basis for several present-day fictional and non-literary works, without being a historical truth, a pact with the Devil initially informed numerous, not necessarily fictional stories. Here are a few examples :
Faust by Goethe
The chasse-galerie
Paganini
Devil's Advocate
Death Note
The Rolling Stones
The first Demons
In the 5th century, Saint Augustine broached the topic of a “demonic pact.” He was denouncing pagan beliefs: as a convert to Christianity, he viewed these beliefs as archaic. Thus, the original pact with the Devil was equivalent to the practice of old rites at a time when the Christian church sought eternal status as the City of God, superseding a perishable Rome whose decline was heralded by Barbarian invasions. This narrative rapidly donned more literal meaning as it was endorsed and spread by preachers. Subsequent iterations of Christian iconography show demons transformed into hirsute, goat-like beings which, according to sources, are rooted in every manner of archetypes from the satyrs of Greek mythology to stepmothers from Saskatchewan. The phenomenon hence took a more literal turn, becoming a pact with a cloven-hooved, sulphur-smelling creature. People were now quick to attribute any situation that deviated ever so slightly from the established order to collusion with Satan: social advancement, greater knowledge, longevity...
Witch hunts
From the 14th to 18th centuries, a Catholic world disrupted among other things by the wars of religion, spearheaded several sombre efforts to maintain its dominance. This unfortunate period is difficult to reconcile with the historical Renaissance, for it saw a proliferation of far-fetched accusations and misogynistic pamphlets. Until this period, sorcery had often been the purview of men, but now the idea had emerged that women’s natural weakness and their malice as vile temptresses made them suitable receptacles for the Devil. The Inquisition imposed an iron-fisted trial procedure which consisted of torturing the accused until they confessed, while also regarding the absence of a confession as an admission of guilt. Still present in the popular imagination today are the names of massacre sites such as Salem, Massachusetts, where collective hysteria sentenced a hundred or so alleged witches, and caused the lynching of twenty among them in 1692-93.
Faust by Goethe
The theme of a pact with the Devil inspired many prominent works of literature, the most famous being Faust, which emerged in the late 15th century in the wake of the semi-legendary figure of Doctor Faustus, a character halfway between an impressive charlatan and a highwayman prophet. His legend was published anonymously at the end of the 16th century and was immediately seized by the English playwright Christopher Marlowe who brought it to the public stage. From then on, the story of Faust became anchored as a recurring theme in literature, poetry, and music, but it was the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who elevated it to prominence in two verse plays: Faust, published in 1808 and Faust II in 1832 (posthumous). Faust is a tormented work in which the characters and their ruminations echo Goethe’s private life. Its sentimentalist and libertarian qualities bring it within the esthetic range of the German Sturm und Drang movement.
DID YOU KNOW ?
The chasse-galerie
Literature is not the only cultural domain over which the Devil casts his net; gradually, he seeps into all art forms and mediums of expression. In folk culture, the theme has a long history of appropriation, flowing into many legends. Who among us has not been tempted to board a supercharged vessel such as a flying canoe to reach one’s beloved in record time? The Quebec folk legend of La Chasse-galerie, notably adapted by Honoré Beaugrand from a French legend in 1891, features a group of loggers who seal a pact with the Devil that will enable them to visit their sweethearts in the city. Packed together in their flying canoe, the loggers must carefully avoid the most vexing pitfalls under pain of eternal damnation, despite the many twists and turns that arise during their journey… This well-known Quebec folk tale also inspired many composers and musicians:
Here is a version by Claude Dubois: And one by the folk group La Bottine souriante:
Paganini
The Genoese violonist and guitarist Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840) was a true performing and composing genius. He revolutioned the playing technique of both of his preferred instruments. His virtuosity was so that many concert programs described Paganini as possessed by the devil, and few pretended that his melodies were dicted by Satan himself. After his death, the Catholic Church, judging his talent unholy, refused that he be buried religiously!
N. Paganini, Caprice for solo violin Op. 1 No. 5 :
The Devil's Advocate
Naturally, film is no exception to the Devil’s rule: several productions focus on the hair-raising aspect of the pact with the Devil to foment horror, although horror films are not the only genre to harness diabolical plots. Directed by American filmmaker Taylor Hackford in 1997, the dark thriller The Devil’s Advocate follows the story of a successful young lawyer, played by Keanu Reeves, who, blinded by his ambition, accepts a lucrative proposal to work for a large firm tasked with representing several dubious cases. Quickly enough, demonic visions begin to shake his convictions and drive his wife to the edge of madness; what if his boss John Milton, played by Al Pacino, was the Devil incarnate, no less?
The Rolling Stones
The world of popular music can also boast its share of proponents of black magic and Satanist iconography. Members of the iconic British rock band The Rolling Stones have notoriously remained ambiguous in this respect: the cover of their album Goat’s Head Soup displays a demonic brew, and the earlier song Sympathy for the Devil repeatedly draws connections between the devil and human beings with their unceasing appetite for atrocities.
The Rolling Stones, Sympathy for the Devil (1968) :
Death Note
One of the most impressive productions in this genre remains, however, the manga series Death Note by the outstanding author and illustrator duo of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. A teen whiz named Light comes across a notebook belonging to a demonic entity, which grants the user diabolical powers: one need only write down a person’s name and the circumstances of their death for their fate to be realized. While at first, Light attempts to use this powerful artifact to rid the world of criminals, power soon goes to his head and, as the story progresses, his psychological decline turns him into a wanted criminal, his once-honourable aspirations now giving way to the vilest and most murderous impulses.
Activities
In The Soldier’s Tale by Stravinsky, a Soldier attempts to win back his soul by playing dice with the Devil. But not to worry, you won’t be asked to bet your soul against a pair of sixes! The activities below, which can be done individually or as a group, will test your knowledge and help you to appreciate Stravinsky’s distinctive aesthetic and sound plays.
Match the musical style
Music librarian in trouble
Creative activity
Creative activity
STEPs to follow :
scenario
In teams of 6 persons: 4 “actors” and 2 “musicians,” we invite you to produce a story from scratch, from the medium used all the way to the staging. The challenge in this activity is to adapt to the current context of the pandemic, just like Stravinsky and Ramuz had to do in the time of the Spanish flu.
STEP 2 Determine your staging
STEP 1 Construct your storyline
STEP 4 Assign roles
STEP 3 Create your soundtrack