Roger Waters is streaming a video trailer for his just-released adaptation of Igor Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale.”
The project sees Waters narrate the latest take on the Russian composer’s classic story of a soldier who trades his violin to The Devil in exchange for a book that will help make him rich.
The 2018 adapatation sees the former Pink Floyd bassist play the Soldier, the Devil, the Narrator and all of the story’s other characters, as well.
Music for “The Soldier’s Tale” is provided by seven musicians from the prestigious Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival.
The fact that Waters has recorded this work in particular is no accident, for there are personal reasons for his choice. In the first place, he has wanted for a long time to engage more deeply with the work of a composer whose weight and occasional inaccessibility may perhaps have much in common with his own music and, in the second place, the two world wars have left their mark on Waters’ family, too – he lost his father in the Second World War, while one of his grandfathers was killed in the First.
“I’m hugely proud of it and I feel honored to have been given the opportunity to be part of a production of what I consider to be not just a great piece of work from Stravinsky, but, I think, an amazingly beautiful piece of recording,” says Waters.
“The Soldier’s Tale” has been issued a few days in advance of the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice at Compiègne that brought the First World War to an end on November 11, 1918.
Waters is currently playing a series of dates across South America on the US + Them tour, which features songs from the albums of Pink Floyd, with an emphasis on 1973’s “The Dark Side Of The Moon”, 1975’s “Wish You Were Here”, 1977’s “Animals” and 1979’s concept album “The Wall.”
Last year, Waters released “Is This The Life We Really Want?”, his first new album of original material in 25 years.
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