The concept chosen for this project is an 18th Century fairytale by Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm entitled ‘Bearskin’. It tells the story of a young soldier rejected by his remaining family resulting in him making a deal with the devil, only to later find out that his ending is not a happy one. I chose this story as I felt it had an excellent combination of drama, love, some dark humor and overall personal emotion. 

The libretto is written very much in the style of an opera rather than simply a musical. The libretto on each track therefore becomes the dialogue between the characters rather than the tracks simply being individual songs that would usually have to be broken up by spoken dialogue. Additionally, the lyrics are written in a recitative style, this is used to give the impression of the passage of time and to link sections of the story.

One of the main themes of the story is image and how people are perceived. This is a theme that runs throughout the album and is referenced in very different ways through the music. This theme is also used frequently in various other contemporary musical theatre works such as ‘Wicked’ and ‘The Phantom of the Opera’.

Characters 
Soldier/Bearskin - Tom Hier
Greencoat - Harry Evans
Brother One - Harry Evans
Brother Two - Robert Humphries
Old Man - Harry Evans
Sister One - Erin Larnder
Sister Two - Devonne Sheppard
The Third Sister - Saxby-Rose Macalister

The decision to not give the majority of the characters a name is for two reasons. Firstly, in Grimm’s original tale, no names are mentioned except for two. 
Secondly, the first named character to appear is Greencoat, the devil, which symbolises temptation and, above all, evil. During Soldier’s encounter with Greencoat, he too gives into temptation and evil and therefore gets the name Bearskin. This is an early indication whilst being unknown to the listener that, in this story, evil does in fact prevail. 

Composition
The musical and compositional style is heavily influenced by Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. This incorporates a combination of orchestral and contemporary rock instruments such as distorted electric guitar, bass guitar, piano and drum kit, giving the entire work a dramatic and contemporary sound all at the same time. 

Overture
The first track serves as the overture of the entire work which, as is common, incorporates various melodies and motifs from the other tracks all blended together to create a single piece of music. 

The Brothers’ Resentment
This track continues on from the overture and introduces the main character and begins telling his story of returning from war and being rejected by his two brothers.

Greencoat’s Deal
This song is intended to be less song-like and more similar to a poem with a musical accompaniment, hence the lack of variation in the instrumentation. The song therefore gets a lot of information across to the listener in a short space of time as this is a key moment of the story.

Four Years on/The Sister’s Repulsion
This track immediately tells the listener that four years have passed in the story and the struggles Bearskin has encountered during this time. The second part of the track reintroduces a motif from ‘The Brothers’ Resentment’ indicating a mutual dislike for the main character.

The Third Sister
This track includes two musical features typical of music theatre. These include the ‘I want song’, typically sung by the female lead with a theme of hope, and also a love duet between two characters.
The musical break and lyrics following indicate a second leap forward in time.


Overture

The Brothers' Resentment

Greencoat's Deal

Four Years On/The Sisters' Repulsion

The Third Sister

Media Talk

Track influenced by the work of the KLF/The Justified Ancients of Mumu, in particular, the album Shag Times.

Sampled tracks include:
Price Tag by Jessie J
Money For Nothing by Dire Straits
(I do not own the rights to the original recordings of these songs)



Harry Evans (c) 2013

Harry Evans Music

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