Peter and the Wolf

Peter and the Wolf is a composition by Sergei Prokofiev. It was written in 1936 after his return to Russia, then part of the Soviet Union. It is a children's story. Prokofiev got the idea from Natalya Sats, who led the Moscow State Musical Theater for Children. The idea was to introduce children to the different musical instruments in the orchestra. For this reason, each character in the story has a particular instrument and a musical theme:

• Bird: flute

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• Duck: Oboe

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• Cat: Clarinet (in A)

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• Grandfather: Bassoon

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• Wolf: 3 French Horns

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• Peter: String instruments

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• Hunters: Timpani and Bass Drum

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(The hunters' theme is actually introduced by the woodwinds) In addition, there is a narrator telling the story.

In 1946, Walt Disney produced an animated version of Peter and the Wolf. There are some differences to the original work, for example the animals are given names. It was released on video tape in the 1990s.

Peter And The Wolf Media

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  Art Carney poses with puppets made by Bil Baird for a 1958 TV version

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  Factory workers in England watch a performance of Peter and the Wolf organised by the Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts, 1943

Other websites

• http://www.internet-maerchen.de/download/peter.mp3 Archived 2010-10-06 at the Wayback Machine