The Little Matchgirl
The Little Matchgirl
ABOUT
On a terribly cold and dark New Year ́s Eve, a
poor little girl attempts to sell matches on the
street, with bare head and naked feet. She is
wearing a pair of too large slippers when she
leaves home, but she looses them, one she can not
find and the other is seized upon by a boy who
runs away saying he could use it as a cradle. So
the little girl goes on, red and blue with cold, the
snowflakes falling on her long, fair hair. She dares
not go home, fearing her father, for she has sold
no matches.
Desperately trying to warm herself, the Little
Match Girl begins to light her matches. As she
lights each matchstick, a new fantastic image
appears in front of her, only to disappear as the
matchstick looses its flame. The first image is that
of a hot iron stove. The next is a fully-decorated
table, complete with candles and ornaments.
When the match goes out, the Christmas lights
rise higher and higher. Then she sees a star fall.
The Little Match Girl remembers her dead
grandmother, the only one who had ever loved
her, and who had told her that when a star falls,
a soul is going up to God. She again lights a match.
In the brightness stands her old grandmother. "O
take me with you", cries the little one who makes
haste to light the whole bundle of matches to keep
her grandmother there. The Grandmother takes
her up to heaven and in the morning her little
frozen body is found, with a smile on her face.
“As a songwriter I am always looking for fresh inspiration for subjects on which to write . One of my chief sources of inspiration is to take other people work and adapt them into songs. The poignant and tragic tale of the LMG is one such inspiration for me . I was originally approached by the Hans Christian Andersen foundation to adapt one of his stories to coincide with the bicentennial of his birth ( or death ?) and of all his stories the Little Match Girl has always been the most sad and beautiful, I hope the music and theatre piece that we we are creating will reflect this”
TRACKLIST
- Starlit Night
- Slippers for a Cradle
- Red and Blue with Cold
- Your long golden hair
- Man in the moon
- The Match Girl
- The Fire
- The Feast
- Peace on Earth
- Falling Star
- Take me with you Grandma
- Your body lies frozen
CREDITS
Produced by Christian Kolonovits & Tiger Lillies. All songs written and composed by Martyn Jacques . Strings arranged by Christian Kolonovits. Recorded at the Vienna ODEON 02.Feb - 19.Feb 2006 by Kurt Richter. Mixed at homebase recording studio, Vienna by Kurt Richter. Mastered by Mischa Kraus at Sunshine Mastering Vienna. Design: Meran Karanitant, www.dreihundert.com
Photos: Richard Haughton
Drawings by: Sylvie Martin-Hyszka
By courtesy of Bureau Karin Dix
Musicans:
THE TIGER LILLIES
Martyn Jacques - Lead-Vocals, Accordeon, Guitar, Ukulele, Piano
Adrian Stout - Double Bass, Electric Bass, singing Saw, Backing Vocals
Adrian Huge - Drums, Percussions, Backing Vocals
Violin: Andrea Hahn
Viola: Cordelia Kirchmayr
Cello: Alexander Rauscher
Orchestra Contracting & Supervision: Andreas Winkler
Copyist: Hans-Peter Sumereder
Music based on the theatre production "The Little Match Girl"
Based upon Hans Christian Andersen’s tale
