Fairy Tale Music

The story of the origins of fairy tales has in itself become a myth of many versions, very fitting of its own genre. Some date them back to 200AD, others 7000 years, whilst the term is popularly originated to Madame d'Aulnoy in the 17th century. Yet it is the Brother's Grimm, and then Hans Christian Andersen, who are known as the pioneers of fairy tales as we know them today, from their 19th century texts.

The genre first moved to film in the 20th century, when Disney produced Silly Symphony. This series of short films, from 1929 to 1939, was intended as comedic moving pictures accompanied by music, but by using characters from fairy tales, it became the start of the multi billion genre that it is today. The music was as much a part as the picture, with soundtracks for The Skeleton Dance by Carl Stalling and Three Little Pigs by Frank Churchill.

This was followed up by Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, the first commercial film soundtrack, and certainly the first fairy-taled. Songs such as Heigh-Ho remain famous with all generations, and led to songs related to fairy tales becoming hugely popular ever since.

Fairy tale music can range between sounds that evoke the magical feeling of the story, from twinkling instrumentals to dramatic noises, and songs that match the emotion and come to the forefront. An early example of the latter is When You Wish Upon A Star from Pinocchio, and a later song of this type which also became a worldwide hit, is Let It Go, from Frozen.

All of the above shows that fairy tale music has been dominated by Disney and their production of films within this genre. However, there are, and have been for many years, performances of fairy tales in theatres and spaces across the world in which music plays an integral part, and is interpreted in its own way, to ensure the fantasy is perfectly showcased in sound.