‘Of all fairy tales I know, I think Undine the most beautiful’ - George MacDonald

This one-off musical performance of Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué’s Undine follows the story of the romance between a water-sprite Undine and the Knight Huldbrand. The tale had a profound influence on the 19th century, inspiring operas, ballets and adaptations, including Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid and Dvořák’s Rusalka, as well the imagination of Arthur Rackham.

This performance will retell the narrative of Undine, interspersed with some of the most iconic musical versions of the story, all set against Arthur Rackham’s definitive illustrations. This multimedia concert is led and co-ordinated by Victoria Leslie with composer Jonathan Little, and collates various musical treatments of the Undine story interspersed with Rackham's illustrations of Undine and with spoken word.

Researched, compiled and produced by Victoria Leslie and Jonathan David Little.

BIOGRAPHIES

Victoria Leslie’s PhD research explores how early water women narratives, including Friedrich de la Motte Fouque's Undine (later made popular by Arthur Rackham's illustrations) were used by writers at the fin de siècle to discuss women's sexual and political freedom. Her thesis is cross-disciplinary, collaborating with other academics and creative practitioners who are similarly interested in the cross-fertilisation of literature, art and music. Her previous writing has been short-listed for a number of awards, included the Shirley Jackson Award and the World Fantasy Award, and she was awarded fellowships at Hawthornden and the Saari Institute in Finland to research Nordic water myths. Victoria's fiction has accrued many awards and nominations and her debut novel, Bodies of Water is available from Salt Publishing.

Jonathan David Little is Professor of Musical Composition / Music History at the University of Chichester. His atmospheric and evocative music is notable for its mystical beauty, intensity and richness of material. Little was the first Australian-born composer to be awarded the John Clementi Collard Fellowship (2011), one of the most prestigious awards of the City of London’s ancient Worshipful Company of Musicians. His two-volume study of musical and literary orientalism won a Royal Literary Fund Award and he is currently working on further volumes in the series and a major text on musical composition. This year he received “Special Distinction” in the ASCAP Rudolf Nissim Prize (USA) – one of the concert music world’s most esteemed awards.