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The Selfish Giant is an imaginative musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s classic fairy tale for symphony orchestra and narrator. Complimented by enchanting artwork, this story will inspire children of all ages for generations to come.
This piece is the perfect programming choice for an educational, community outreach or family matinee concert. The colorful orchestral score can be utilized to educate audiences about a variety of musical concepts including: the instruments of the orchestra, melodic development, harmony, rhythm and many more. The themes of sharing and redemption are powerfully communicated in Wilde’s timeless story. |
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The Selfish Giant was first published in 1888 in a collection of fairy tales titled The Happy Prince and Other Tales. Wilde believed it was “the duty of every father to write fairy tales for his children.”
Every afternoon, the children played in the Giant’s garden. It was a large, lovely garden with soft green grass and beautiful flowers. After many years of being away, the Giant returned home and found the children playing in his garden. “What are you doing here?” he cried in a very gruff voice.
Now, the Giant must decide: Will he share the garden or keep its beauty for himself? |
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The enchanted world of The Selfish Giant springs to life in the original illustrations of Chris Beatrice. Chris’ artwork has been adapted into a Powerpoint–formatted companion DVD that allows these vivid illustrations to be displayed during concert presentations of The Selfish Giant.
Chris Beatrice’s work has graced the covers of classic books such as Gulliver’s Travels and Robinson Crusoe, in addition to games, packaging, magazines, posters, private commissions and other books. His clients include Simon and Schuster, MacMillan, Scholastic, Hyperion and Penguin. Chris' work has been featured several times in Spectrum, Exposé, Exotique and Painter, receiving two awards for Excellence in Fantasy and another for Excellence in Humor. |
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The Selfish Giant is available in two different editions. The Professional edition is designed for performances by orchestras with paid personnel and who charge admission to their audience members. This edition contains a larger string count but no supplemental parts for alternate instruments (that may be present in volunteer orchestras).
The Non-Professional edition is designed for performances by orchestras, consisting of volunteer players, who do not charge admission to their audience members. This edition contains a smaller string count and supplemental parts for alternate instruments (Bass Clarinet, Saxes, String Reduction, etc.). |
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| Click on the icons below to ENLARGE the images. |
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Professional Edition |
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Non-Professional Edition |
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The Selfish Giant recording features exquisite performances by The Nashville String Machine and members of the Nashville Symphony. The orchestra was recorded in three separate sessions: strings, brass and woodwinds.
This isolation of instrument groups provides more control of the dynamic balance between the sections of the orchestra and allows for better isolation of prominently featured solo passages throughout the orchestral score. |
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To ensure the continuity and quality of the orchestral performance, Dan Goeller conducted the recording sessions. Heidi Goeller produced the sessions, carefully scrutinizing the score while listening in the control booth.
To preserve the natural acoustic sound of a live orchestral performance, the sessions were recorded at Oceanway Studio using a decca tree microphone configuration. This approach best preserves the excitement and subtlety of the musical score. Veteran recording engineer Bob Clark engineered the Nashville recording sessions and mixed the album as well. John Mayfield skillfully mastered the project. |
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The evocative orchestral score of The Selfish Giant is perfectly complemented by the masterful narration of Martin Jarvis. Martin has starred in plays by Oscar Wilde for Britain’s Royal National Theatre and for LA Theatre Works in America. He gave an award-winning performance as ‘Jeeves’ on Broadway. Movies include ‘Titanic’ and ‘Buster’ and his numerous tv roles include appearances in ‘Marple’, ‘Morse’, Murder She Wrote and ‘David Copperfield’. He has narrated many ‘Words and Music’ concerts including ‘Egmont’, Peter and the Wolf’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. His audiobooks are bestsellers around the world. He is invested as an OBE by The Queen for his services to drama and the arts. |
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