UW Department of Music Presents Soldiers Tale and Devils Tale Oct. 10

Just in time for the Halloween season, the University of Wyoming Department of Music’s Faculty Recital Series presents two major companion works: Igor Stravinsky’s classic chamber and narrative piece, “The Soldier’s Tale,” followed by James Stephenson’s follow-up piece, “The Devil’s Tale.”

The concert is Monday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Buchanan Center for the Performing Arts concert hall. The concert is free and open to the public.

Stravinsky’s 1918 “The Soldier’s Tale,” scored for only seven players with accompanying narration, was conceived by Stravinsky and Swiss writer C.F. Ramuz. The piece is based on a Russian folk tale of a soldier who trades his fiddle to the devil in exchange for great wealth and stature.

Stephenson’s “The Devil’s Tale” is a contemporary sequel to Stravinsky’s work, updating the setting to Las Vegas, where a musician in a show band and his dancer girlfriend have a run-in with the devil, a blackjack dealer.

The concert features UW Department of Music faculty Robert Belser, conductor; Sherry Sinift, violin; Gonzalo Teppa, bass; Blake McGee, clarinet; Kaori Uno-Jack, bassoon; Scott Meredith, trumpet; Danial Watt, trombone; Ed Breazeale, percussion; and UW Department of English Chair Peter Parolin as narrator.