The Snowman
The Bear Concert Version to Be Narrated or Performed With Projected Film, Girl Soprano, Tenor and Baritone Soloists and Orchestra
The music and songs comprising this concert work were originally created for the animated film of 1999
First Performance: Victoria Symphony Orchestra, conductor Giuseppe Pietraroia, The Royal Theatre, Victoria, 5 December 2010.
THE ANIMATED FILM
The animated film of ‘The Bear’ was made in 1997/8 by the same team that made ‘The Snowman’ , based again on a story by Raymond Briggs and first shown on Channel 4 TV on Christmas Eve 1998. It is a companion-piece to ‘The Snowman’ except that the hero is a small girl – sung on the film by Charlotte Church. The adaptation and storyboard development of the film were made by director Hilary Audus and art-director Joanne Harrison, the producer was John Coates.
THE STORY AS TOLD IN THE FILM
‘A young girl, Tilly, visits the zoo with her mum and dad, but accidentally drops her best-loved toy into the polar bear’s pit. That night, Tilly cries herself to sleep, only to wake and find a huge polar bear standing over her- he’s come to return her precious teddy.
So begins a magical friendship with some bear-size complications, the biggest problem being how to keep such an enormous pet hidden from her parents. Everything changes when The Bear hears a call of the wild from the spirit of The Star-Bear who descends from the constellation in the sky to embark on an extraordinary night adventure across the City of London.
The Bear is represented by a tenor and the Star-Bear by a bass-baritone but all three singers join in the song ‘Somewhere a star shines for everyone’, sung as they skate down the frozen Thames.
Recordings
