19th-century Europeans were vastly interested in folk tales (which we, more innocently, call fairytales). They wrote new ones (Hans Christian Andersen) and collected traditional ones (the Grimm brothers). It’s no surprise that musicians followed suit, or suite in this case. While there are hours of music inspired by the themes of folk tales (and indeed a whole style of “characteristic” music associated with the supernatural and the grotesque), we’ve taken pieces that are directly inspired by folk tales.
- Second movement from Märchenbilder (Fairytale pictures, Robert Schumann)
Rolf Schulte, violin; Christopher O’Riley, piano, In his journal, Schumann noted that the first two movements of this set of miniatures was inspired by the story of Rapunzel. But the music doesn’t obviously correlate to the story. It’s more of a fantasy mood piece. - “Conversation between Beauty and the Beast,” from Ma mère l’oye (Mother Goose, Mauric Ravel),
London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado
Ravel wrote his Mother Goose Suite for two children he knew to play on piano. Later he orchestrated it, and then turned it into a ballet. There’s a waltz in this section, where Beauty and the Beast dance together, and the scene is sprinkled with conversation, which Ravel subtly indicates in the music without totally breaking the flow of the waltz. - “The Nightingale Returns” from Le chant du rossignol (Song of the nightingale, Igor Stravinsky)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Fritz Reiner
This orchestral suite, based on an opera, dramatizes Hans Christian Andersen’s tale about an ailing emperor who is comforted, and eventually healed, by the song of a faithful bird. - Der Erlkönig (The elf-king, Franz Schubert), Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone; Gerald Moore, piano This is a scary story about a child being carried home on horseback by his father. He sees and hears the elf-king calling to him, enticing him to go with the elf. The boy tells his father, who sees and hears nothing. But when they get home, the father discovers that the boy is dead! In this great recording, you can hear all of the different characters (including the narrator at the beginning), and the hoofbeats of the galloping horse.
- Scherzo: Queen Mab from Romeo et Juliette (Hector Berlioz)
William Shakespeare imported a lot of the folklore he learned around his home, in Stratford-on-Avon, into his plays. Queen Mab, who is talked of in a speech by Mercutio, a friend of Romeo, in Romeo and Juliet, is a fairy who brings people dreams. Berlioz’ music is appropriately soft and fantastical. - Finale, Act I from Sleeping Beauty (Peter Tchaikovsky)
In this great ballet's first finale, the fairy Carabosse and the Lilac Fairy confront each other over the fate of the newborn princess: Will she live past her 16th birthday or fall into a sleep until awakened by a prince? To everyone’s relief, the Lilac Fairy wins the argument and banishes Carabosse and her evil minions.