Le Petit Prince


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Song Title Le Petit Prince
星の王子さま
Composer Masanori Taruya 樽屋雅徳
Length Approx 9:30 mins
Grade 4+
Price S$460 (incl. GST) for 12 months

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This composition is based on the foundations of the fairy tale ‘The Little Prince’ by Saint-Exupery. The song is divided in to 5 main scenes.

From the beginning until it enters the Allegro, the main theme of the beginning (glockenspiel, vibraphone, piano) is ‘The Little Prince’. As this is about ‘The Little Prince’, I want to try to express it carefully in a kind and polite way and not in a heavy way.

The scene from Allegro until the Adagio is of ‘me’ trying to control an aeroplane. The G part is a scene where the aeroplane is doing one rotation. The second half of Allegro is using Trombone and Glissando whilst the plane is having engine trouble and lands in the Sahara desert.

The sound of the Bass might be difficult to hear, especially the 8th Note, so the contours should be played clearly. For Percussion, some of the notes have an accent while some doesn’t and it takes skills to show this difference during a performance. I think in order to hear a good blend of sounds from the Percussion, Bass, Melody and the accompanying melody sounding against the principal melody; pay attention to the Melody, Accent and Staccato when playing/blowing and trying to balance it with the accompanying melody sounding against the principal melody. The Corral in J magnifies the theme of ‘The Little Prince’. Please don’t play this portion lightly. There are several places where this Japanese song will encounter 2 short degree portions and pay attention to balance these portions.

From K, it is a scene in the desert where ‘The Little Prince’ is talking to ‘me’, and saying “Hey hey, draw a picture of a sheep”. I think this should be expressed cutely by paying attention to the articulation of the Staccato, Accent, and Slur.

P is a painful scene with a piano solo, when ‘The Prince’ travels back to the stars. In the performance it is very important to echo not only the Melody part but all parts with ‘poetic sentiments’.

When performing, if you can imagine all the 5 scenes you can express the song more deeply.

(Masanori Taruya)