Classic Fairy Stories
The Brave Little Tailor • The History of Dick Whittington
Goldilocks and the Three Bears • The Princess on the Glass Hill
The Story of the Three Little Pigs • Beauty and the Beast
Jack and the Beanstalk • Puss in Boots
Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum
I smell the blood of an Englishman
Every culture has its fairy stories. These are the fables, the imaginings of
the small against the big, the weak against the strong and the naughty
getting punished (though sometimes they do get away with it!)
It is a world of enchantment, where magic can, with a touch of a wand,
transform the ordinary world into something—magical.
Fairy stories are, by their very nature, folk tales. They emerged from
ordinary folk, and were passed on orally from generation after generation,
by folk. That is why they reflect a bygone age, where kings ruled by right,
where princesses were set in towers (or on a glass hill) so that they could
be won by the right man, the bold, brave or cunning man; and where little
men of the people—like a brave tailor—could achieve things which were
totally unexpected.
In the 19th century, the importance and the charm of fairy stories were
highlighted by the two key collections that were produced—by Hans
Christian Andersen in Denmark and the Brothers Grimm in Germany. They
gathered stories from their traditions and re-wrote them elegantly—charming their contemporary audience, and preserving them for later
generations.
The stories in this collection, however, come from mainly English
traditions—at least in their present form. The History of Dick Whittington
is of particular interest as it has a historical basis. Richard Whittington
really was three times Mayor of London (1397–98, 1406–07, 1419–20) and a
wealthy merchant of his time. He died in 1423, but there is no record of his
birth, suggesting that there was perhaps some truth in the story that he
came from poor circumstances and managed the magical transition to a figure
of great wealth (in the days before the lottery). The first record of the
story as we know it, with the Bow bells, dates from the early 17th century,
but there is no real reason to doubt its basic truth.
Jack and the Beanstalk is every boy’s dream, but has particular resonance
because of the Giant’s chant, which has become part of the national
consciousness. In the story of the Three Little Pigs there is also a line
which we all know: ‘I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down,’
and which is as much the charm of the story as the manner in which one
little pig, at least, outwits the nasty fox.
Most fairy tales have a little moral, a little ‘lesson learned’ for their
listeners. ‘Be good, be kind, be generous, be hardworking and you will
succeed, be happy or achieve your goal.’ If you don’t, you will get a fright
like Goldilocks (and what a fright she got as the bears lumbered in!); if
you are not bold (like Cinderlad) you won’t get the princess. But life doesn
’t always work quite like that: a little luck with a clever puss can make
you a Marquis of Carabas; and little cunning as displayed by the brave
tailor, goes a long way.
And it never pays to be unkind, ugly sisters. Beauty is the heroine in
Beauty and the Beast, and the story has many meanings and morals—for
adults and children alike. But one of the morals is, and will always be, if
you are an unkind, ugly sister, you don’t get to go to the ball. For sure!
Notes by Nicolas Soames
The music on this cassette is taken from the NAXOS catalog
The Brave Little Tailor
GRIEG Norwegian DanceNo 2
8.550090
CSFR State PO (Kolice)/Edlinger
BIZET March from Jeux d’enfants
8.553027
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Donald Johanos
The History of Dick Whittington
BOCCHERINI Flute Quartets
8.553719
Alexandre Magnin, Janáček Quartet
MASSENET La procession
8.550087
CSR SO (Bratislava) Ondrej Lenard
SAINT-SAËNS Bacchanale from Samson et Delilah
8.550138
CSR SO (Bratislava) Stephen Gunzenhauser
The Story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears
LISZT Tarentelle
8.550087
CSR SO (Bratislava) Ondrej Lenard
The Princess on the Glass Hill
GRIEG Norwegian Bridal Procession
8.550140
CSFR State PO (Kosice)/Gunzenhauser
GODARD Serenade florentine
8.550087
CSR SO (Bratislava) Ondrej Lenard
The Story of the Three Little Pigs
CHABRIER Marche joyeuse
8.550088
CSR SO (Bratislava) Ondrej Lenard
Beauty and the Beast
BIZET Entr’acte to Act III, Carmen
8.554703
Czecho-Slovak RSO, Alexander Rahbari
SAINT-SAËNS Le Rouet d’Omphale
8.550138
CSR SO (Bratislava) Stephen Gunzenhauser
GLUCK Dance of the Blessed Spirits
8.553435
Slovak State PO, Johannes Wilder
BOCCHERINI Flute Quartets
8.553719
Alexandre Magnin, Janáček Quartet
Jack and the Beanstalk
GODARD Sicillienne
8.550087
CSR SO (Bratislava) Ondrej Lenard
TCHAIKOVSKY Marche slave
8.550500
RPO Adrian Leaper
Puss in Boots
GODARD Tarentelle
8.550087
CSR SO (Bratislava) Ondrej Lenard
Music programming by Nicolas Soames
