SKU: PE.EP67890

ISBN 9790300747613. 297 x 420mm inches. English.

Libretto by James Fenton

In a make-believe world, based loosely on Bombay and Kashmir, the story of Haroun is a tale of a fight between the free imagination and the powers that oppose it. Haroun's father, Rashid, the Shah of Blah, is a professional and gifted story-teller, a popular figure much in demand at public events. Feeling neglected, his wife is persuaded to leave him and run away with a neighbor. After this, Rashid loses confidence in his powers of story-tellling, haunted by his son's question: 'What's the use of stories that aren't even there?' Rashid is due to speak at a political rally to be held by the sinister politician, Snooty Buttoo. He is told that if he does not come up with his usual fund of tales, his tongue will be cut out. As Rashid despairs, Haroun determines to rescue his father's talent - a project in which he learns that the Ocean of the Sea of Stories, the source of all stories, is being polluted by the enemy of all stories, the evil Khattam Shud. In a series of brilliant imagined adventures, Haroun succeeds in defeating the powers of darkness, and restoring happiness to his family, and to the city where he lives.

Salman Ruishdie's children's book, written in the aftermath of the fatwa, has an effervescent style which is full of rhymes and wordplay. The libretto stays very close to the spirit of the original, conjuring up a fantasy world in which, nonetheless, one never loses sight of harsh political reality and the great issues of freedom of speech and imagination. -- James Fenton, 1998

SKU: BT.DHP-1033505-010

9x12 inches.

Maxime Aulio composed Les Voyages de Gulliver (Gulliver’s Travels) for the concert band of the Conservatoire National de Région in Toulouse (France) conducted by Jean-Guy Olive. The first performance took place in Toulouse (Auditorium Saint-Pierre des Cuisines) on April 25, 2001. The Anglo-Irish author Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) took about six years to complete his epic tale of adventure. The creative storyline, clear writing and subtlety of Gulliver’s Travels have been engaging readers for generations. This literary travel between reason and foolishness was Maxime Aulio’s inspiration for this piece. Each of the four movements of this suite is a review of Gulliver’sadventures, resembling the effect of a kaleidoscope, which juxtaposes small fragments of colour in a linear pattern.

Jonathan Swifts satirischer Roman Gullivers Reisen - eine literarische Reise zwischen Vernunft und Verrücktheit - regte auch die Phantasie des Komponisten Maxime Aulio an. Seine Suite für Blasorchester besteht aus mehreren kurzen, teilweise wie eine Kette aneinander gereihten Sätzen. Zyklisch in veränderter Form wiederkehrende Motive und Themen beschreiben Gullivers Gedanken und Gefühle oder auch Landschaften und Personen, die ihm unterwegs begegnen.

1. Voyage Lilliput • 2. Voyage Brobdingnag • 3. Voyage Laputa/Voyage Balnibarbi; l’Académie de Lagado/Voyage Glubbdubdrib, l’île des Magiciens /Voyage Luggnagg; Les Struldbruggs • 4. Voyage chez les Houyhnhnms / Maxime Aulio a composé Gulliver's Travels (Les Voyages de Gulliver) pour l’Orchestre d’Harmonie du Conservatoire National de Région de Toulouse placé sous la direction de Jean-Guy Olive. L’œuvre a été donnée en création mondiale le 25 avril 2001, l’Auditorium Saint-Pierre des Cuisines de Toulouse, par la formation dédicataire.Vers 1720, lorsque Jonathan Swift (1667-1745), écrivain irlandais d’origine anglaise, envoie Lemuel Gulliver,un vieux chirurgien malicieux, la découverte de contrées extraordinaires, il débute en réalité l’écriture d’un roman satirique sur la vanité, la morale et l’hypocrisie de la société humaine. L’utopie littéraire était alors l'unique moyen d’éviter la censure. Mais en écrivant ce livre, dont la rédaction dura six ans, Swift eut le temps de m rir ses idées, si bien que sa réflexion grinçante sur la condition humaine est toujours d’actualité. Le génie imaginatif, la finesse d’esprit et la prose simple qui caractérisent Les Voyages de Gulliver ont fasciné des générations de lecteurs. Ce voyage littéraire entre raison et folie s’est également arrimé dans l’imaginaire de Maxime Aulio qui nous offre avec sa suite en quatre mouvements, une vision musicale des pérégrinations de Gulliver, la manière d’un kaléidoscope qui juxtapose de petits fragments de couleur dans une trame linéaire.