Ben Tibbetts Studio: Piano Performances and Original Music

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The Emperor's New Clothes

"The Emperor's New Clothes" was a story by Hans Christian Anderson. Since its publication in 1837, "The Emperor's New Clothes" has enjoyed enduring popularity. It has been adapted into many forms of media and translated into over a hundred languages.

However, the tale itself is much more ancient. Anderson's work was based on a Spanish parable appearing in the 1335 collection "Libro de los ejemplos". And there are other, older interpretations of the folktale. One version dates back at least to the 1000's in the early medieval literature of India. Although the details vary, "The Emperor's New Clothes" has persisted through various cultures for a millenium. It's one of the foundational fables in our common heritage.

For this project I wrote my own version, and recorded myself narrating it into a cheap microphone. Then I composed some incidental music to accompany it. The end result felt like a radio drama.

"The Emperor's New Clothes" is a story about pretending to believe something you don't. It is a story about seeing things that are not there, or at least claiming not to see that which is obvious to you. It is a story about saving face, about saying what your neighbors want to hear, and doing what your neighbors expect. And it is a story about how that spell can be broken.

Sheet music for this piece is available to subscribers.

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