Fairytales have long enchanted audiences, weaving stories of magic, adventure, and transformation. Yet, many of the tales we know and love today have undergone significant changes over time. The dark, often gruesome stories collected by the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and others, have been softened into the family friendly versions made famous by Disney. With the Houston Symphony’s Fairytales Festival bringing these stories to life through music, let us take a closer look at how these fairytales—and their musical interpretations—have evolved.
Cinderella: A Tale of Transformation
The story of Cinderella is one of the most famous fairytales. In the Brothers Grimm version, Aschenputtel is a girl who suffers under the cruelty of her stepmother and stepsisters but is aided by a magical hazel tree and a flock of birds rather than a fairy godmother. The hazel tree, which grows from her mother’s grave, serves as a spiritual protector, granting Aschenputtel gifts, including the beautiful gown and golden slippers she wears to the royal ball. Instead of a pumpkin carriage and cheerful animal sidekicks, the birds that reside in the tree help her complete impossible tasks set by her stepmother and later exact justice upon her wicked stepsisters.
Image from Brothers Grimm Aschenputtel
This version is much darker than Disney’s 1950 animated classic; instead of the happily-ever-after, Cinderella’s stepsisters are punished by having their eyes pecked out by the birds. Additionally, to try and fit into the golden slipper, the stepsisters go as far as to mutilate their own feet. The story conveys themes of justice and fate rather than the whimsical transformation seen in Disney’s adaptation.
Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet Cinderella (1945) aligns more closely with the darker, more intense nature of the Grimm story. His score is filled with dramatic tension, quirky humor, and a deep emotional core, emphasizing Cinderella’s struggles and triumphs in a way that is sometimes playful but often hauntingly poignant. Prokofiev masterfully uses dissonance and bold, unexpected rhythms to highlight Cinderella’s hardships, while sweeping; lush melodies underscore her moments of hope.
Scene from the Polish National Ballet’s rendition of Prokofiev’s ballet.
The waltzes of the ballet, for instance, have an eerie, almost mechanical quality, emphasizing the constraints of Cinderella’s world. Meanwhile, Disney’s Cinderella is light, dreamy, and full of delicate orchestration, mirroring the magical transformation of a servant girl into a princess with songs like “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” and “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo.” While both versions capture the spirit of transformation, Prokofiev’s score embraces the story’s weight and struggle, while Disney’s leans into charm and whimsy.
The Little Mermaid: Longing for a Different World
Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid is a tragic story of unfulfilled love and sacrifice. The young mermaid, longing for an immortal soul and the love of a human prince, trades her voice for legs, but every step she takes is agonizing.
Ultimately, the prince marries another, and rather than kill him to regain her mermaid form, she chooses to dissolve into sea foam, finding a new existence as a spirit. The tale is melancholic, exploring themes of unattainable dreams and sacrifice.
Disney’s The Little Mermaid (1989) takes a far more optimistic approach. Ariel, the rebellious young mermaid, defies her father to explore the human world, ultimately winning the love of Prince Eric and securing her place on land. The film’s soundtrack, composed by Alan Menken, is lively and memorable, featuring songs like “Part of Your World” and “Under the Sea,” which capture Ariels longing and excitement. In contrast, musical interpretations of Andersen’s tale, like Alexander von Zemlinsky’s Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid), focus on the story’s deeper, emotional struggles.
John William Waterhouse’s “A Mermaid”
Composed in 1902–03, The Mermaid was Zemlinsky’s response to personal heartbreak, as he was in love with Alma Schindler, who ultimately chose Gustav Mahler over him. The symphonic poem reflects this sorrow, with rich, impressionistic textures that bring out the story’s emotional depth. The first movement captures the mystical undersea world with shimmering orchestration, while the second movement reflects the mermaid’s deep yearning and painful transformation.
Alexander von Zemlinsky, 1871–1942
Alma Schindler, 1879–1964
The final movement conveys her tragic end with hauntingly beautiful melodies and surging waves of sound, making it an evocative, deeply personal interpretation of Andersen’s tale. Where Menken’s score brings joyful energy, Zemlinsky’s composition embraces the story’s sense of yearning and loss.
The Power of Music in Fairytales
The way fairytales are told—through words, film, or music—can drastically change how we experience them. Dark, suspenseful scores like those of Prokofiev and Zemlinsky pull us into the psychological and emotional depth of the original tales, while the bright, melodic tunes of Disney make these stories approachable and uplifting.
At the Houston Symphony’s Fairytales Festival, these darker interpretations will come to life March 14–23. Form their earliest gloomy origins to their modern magical adaptations, fairytales continue to evolve—but their power to captivate remains unchanged.
