The tale retold

His writing would always bear the imprint of this trauma, in particular on The Wall (1979), The Final Cut (1983) – dedicated to his father – and Amused to Death (1992). This story of a poor soldier who sold his soul to the devil must have struck a chord with him.

The product of the vagaries of the Great War and the friendship between composer Igor Stravinsky (later exiled in Switzerland), the writer Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz and conductor Ernest Ansermet, The Soldier's Tale, was based on one of Afanasyev's Russian folk tales, but adapted in the Canton of Vaud by Ramuz, in whose hands it became a universal parable. Stravinsky wrote a very sparse score for seven instruments (violin, double bass, clarinet, bassoon, cornet, trombone and percussion) which demanded real virtuosity from the musicians. One hundred years after its first outing on 28 September 1918 in Lausanne, The Soldier's Tale is continuing its march across the globe. On this album, rock legend Roger Waters is the sole narrator in his own adaptation, which is based on translations by Michael Flanders and Kitty Black. He takes on the three roles himself, with seven excellent musicians from the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival. For Waters, this latest work is simply the next logical step, given his musical research and his political stance, in particular his support for Palestine and his fight against Trump.

LISTEN TO THE SOLDIER'S TALE (NARRATED BY ROGER WATERS) BY ROGER WATERS ON QOBUZ

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