Everything you need to know about musical adaptations of The Little Prince
The Little Prince has been adapted into music more times than most people realize. There isn't one single definitive version — there are French operatic adaptations, animated film soundtracks, Brazilian theatrical arrangements, and countless covers. Picking the right one depends on what you're looking for.
Where to find the musica do pequeno principe
The most well-known musical work tied to this story is the 1978 operatic musical by Riccardo Cocciante, originally titled Le Petit Prince. It has been recorded in multiple languages including Italian, French, and Portuguese. The album by Il Volo also exists in a Portuguese version and can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube under the title "O Pequeno Príncipe." For the 2015 animated film directed by Mark Osborne, the soundtrack was composed by Bruno Coulais, with vocals by Cécile Corbel on the main theme. That album is available on all major streaming platforms. My first attempt at tracking down a clean Portuguese-language version took me three hours of digging because the official recordings are spread across at least four different label catalogs and two different countries' releases. What I ended up doing was going directly to the composer's official publisher page and downloading the reference scores, then matching the tracklist against Discogs to confirm which pressing had the Portuguese lyrics. That approach cut the search from about two hours to roughly twenty minutes.
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Which version should you actually listen to
If you want the complete narrative arc, the Cocciante album is the one. It covers the full story through sung dialogue and covers about an hour of music across two discs. If you just want the iconic themes for background listening, the Bruno Coulais soundtrack is shorter, more ambient, and works well as instrumental. The Brazilian theatrical version by composers like Radamés Gnattali and others tends to be harder to find on streaming services — you usually need to go to Bandcamp or purchase physical media from Brazilian indie labels. Here is the thing most guides don't mention: the Portuguese-language albums often have different track orders and alternate lyric translations that change which scenes are included. A version released in Portugal in 2010 excludes the desert sequence entirely, while the Brazilian release from 2014 includes it but drops the flower duet. If you care about completeness, check the tracklist before you download or buy anything.
A practical note on quality
The 1978 Cocciante recordings sound dated but the performances are solid. The 2015 Coulais soundtrack has cleaner production but some purists find it too orchestral and removed from the book's intimate tone. Neither is wrong. It depends on whether you want drama or atmosphere. For the exact tracks I recommend searching: "Le Petit Prince Cocciante Il Volo," "Bruno Coulais soundtrack Petit Prince," and "O Pequeno Príncipe trilha sonora brasileira." Streaming platforms will surface the right results if you use the French or Portuguese titles rather than translating everything yourself.
