Art of Time Ensemble – Stravinsky : Sankofa, The Soldier’s Tale Retold

Remake The Soldier’s Tale by Stravinsky in an Afro-Canadian context? That’s the idea behind Sankofa, a project led by Andrew Burashko and the Art of Time Ensemble, based in Toronto. It is through a new libretto commissioned for the occasion from the Nigerian-born, Edmonton-based author, Titilope Sonuga, that this timeless story is updated here. A soldier exchanges his violin (his soul) with the Devil for gains. The soldier is never fully satisfied, plays again with the devil for other advantages but ends up being thrown into Hell after a final breach of his word.

A Canadian Story

The story here conceived by Sonuga features a fictional soldier from the historic 2nd Construction Battalion during World War I, the only entirely Black battalion in the Canadian army, mistreated by its white officers and relegated to trench digging because its commanders refused to give them weapons. In this version, the soldier meets the Devil as he is about to enlist and renounces his identity and heritage (in the form of a Sankofa amulet given to him by his mother) to have the “privilege” of serving in the White man’s war.

Through this rewriting, Sonuga sheds some light on a forgotten corner of Canadian history concerning its Black citizens.

Ten steps forward and twenty back

–a Black man marches an endless track.

Respectful to Stravinsky

Let the purists be reassured, the original narrative arc has not changed in any way. The Devil takes over, the soldier’s quest for meaning, haunted by an emptiness that constantly overwhelms him and a dissatisfaction rooted in superficial dreams, is highlighted through his incessant race towards what he does not yet possess.

Olaoluwa Fayokun is appropriately naïve, a bit juvenile, in the role of the soldier. The narrator Ordena Stephens-Thompson elegantly glides over the sound world created by Stravinsky’s music. Only the Devil, Diego Matamoros, convinced me less. It’s very personal, and perhaps the exact opposite for you, but his quavering voice, like that of a fragile old man, seems incapable of seducing and charming, as a Devil should. We are far from Peter Ustinov (with Igor Markevitch conducting) or Philippe Clay (with Pierre Boulez), for the French versions.

A bit more devilry please

Musically, Burashko draws a clean, calibrated score focused on precision. We would have been better guided through the scenario with more creaks, more bursts, and sound surprises. That said, the conductor dared to add a few moments held by (African) percussion, which fits well, without distorting Stravinsky’s music, with the character of the Black Soldier. And the musicians play quite well. 

We salute the idea, and we greatly appreciate the text, rhymed and polished, conscientiously supported by the Art of Time Ensemble. A relevant adaptation that Stravinsky would most likely have endorsed.