Robert Mann The Princess on the Pea for Narrator, Violin and Piano
Text by Hans Christian Andersen (adapted by Robert Mann)
The Princess on the Pea was composed in 1950 for The Lyric Trio: Robert Mann, violin; Leonid Hambro, piano; and Lucy Rowan, narrator. The text is Mann’s paraphrase of Hans Christian Andersen’s telling of the classic fairy tale. The Lyric Trio premiered the work in 1954 at the Norfolk Museum of Arts and Sciences (now the Chrysler Museum of Art), and received its first New York performance in 1955 at the Juilliard School. Reviewing performances of several of Mann’s Fairy Tales, both the New York Times and New York Herald Tribune singled out The Princess on the Pea in particular, the Tribune calling it “high comedy,” and the Times praising it as “a hilarious triumph” and “an enchanting mixture of childlike fantasy, adult satire and sheer musical slapstick.” Other fairy tale settings composed by Robert Mann and published by Peermusic include How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin and How the Whale Got His Throat.
Robert Mann (1920-2018) was a driving force in the world of music for more than 70 years. As founder and first violinist of the Juilliard String Quartet, and as a soloist, composer, teacher, and conductor, Mr. Mann brought a refreshing sense of adventure and discovery to chamber music performances, master classes, and orchestral performances worldwide. He was, in the words of Richard Dyer of the Boston Globe, “one of the country’s most admired and deeply loved musicians.” Born in Portland, Oregon in 1920, Mr. Mann began studying violin when he was 8, and at age 13 was accepted into the class of Edouard Hurlimann, concertmaster of the Portland Symphony. In 1938, he enrolled in the Juilliard School, where he studied violin with Edouard Dethier, composition with Bernard Wagenaar and Stefan Wolpe, and conducting with Edgar Schenkman. Mr. Mann won the prestigious Naumburg competition in 1941. In 1946, at the invitation of Juilliard’s president, William Schuman, Robert Mann founded the Juilliard String Quartet, serving as the ensemble’s first violinist for 51 years until his retirement from the Quartet in 1997. Along the way, he was a mentor to younger generations of string quartets, including the Alexander, American, Concord, Emerson, LaSalle, New World, Mendelssohn, Tokyo, Brentano, Lark, St. Lawrence, and Colorado quartets. Robert Mann conducted throughout his career, leading ensembles such as the New York Chamber Symphony, Manhattan School of Music Symphony, and ensembles at the Ravinia, Tanglewood, and Aspen music festivals. At the invitation of Seiji Ozawa, he enjoyed a residence at Japan’s Saito Kinen Music Festival as a conductor, teacher, and performer. Mr. Mann composed more than 30 works for narrator with various instruments that he performed with his wife, Lucy Rowan. He also composed an Orchestral Fantasy performed by Dimitri Mitropoulos with the New York Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, and at the Salzburg Festival; a Duo for Violin and Piano that was premiered at Carnegie Hall by Itzhak Perlman; and a String Quartet that was included in the repertoires of both the La Salle and the Concord string quartets. His other works include a Duo for Cello and Piano written for Joel Krosnick and Gilbert Kalish, and Dream Time, recorded by violist David Carpenter.
The Princess on the Pea Text by H. C. ANDERSEN, adapted by Robert Mann
[whisper] Once there was a Prince who wanted to marry a Princess.
Narrator
C
Violin
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ROBERT MANN
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h = 72
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p
Piano
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Only she must be a real one... So, all the world he travelled... to
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© Copyright 2018 by Peermusic III, Ltd. International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved.
2
Poco meno mosso (h = 69) 13
find her.
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mf sempre marcato e staccato
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Everywhere he found plenty of Princesses, but how could he be sure they were real Princesses?
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21
Something was not quite right about every one of them.
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5 59
A tempo
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So he came home again most unhappy.
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How he wanted to have a real Princess!
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One evening a It lightened It was terrible storm and thunsimply blew up. dered and frightful. rained, rained, 69 rained.
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