The Devil's Scherzo

L'Histoire du soldat, or Tale of the Soldier (as it was first published), is an hour-long 1918 theatrical work to be "read, played and danced (lue, jouée et dansée)" by three actors, one or more dancers, and a septet of instruments. Its music is by Igor Stravinsky and its libretto, in French, by Swiss writer Charles Ferdinand Ramuz. Together they based their work on The Runaway Soldier and the Devil, the Russian tale from Alexander Afanasyev's collection. Ernest Ansermet conducted the premiere on 28 September 1918 in Lausanne with the support of Swiss philanthropist Werner Reinhart, to whom Stravinsky gifted the manuscript and dedicated the work.