Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf
Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf Program Notes
Prokofiev wrote Peter and the Wolf (both the music and the text) in 1936 for Moscow’s Central Children’s Theater. It was for a planned performance for a young audience of members of the Pioneers, a state-sponsored youth organization, which in some ways resembled the cub scouts or other youth movements (including neck scarfs). The young protagonist, Peter, was to be one of the Pioneers, a fact which didn’t make it into the English translation. A favorite of decades of youth concerts, Peter and the Wolf also introduces sections of the orchestra, with various instruments representing the characters: Peter: the strings The bird: flute A duck: oboe A cat: clarinet Peter’s grandfather: bassoon The wolf: French horns Since the 1990s, performances of Peter & the Wolf have declined, because an international treaty restored its copyright. It will be expensive to rent until it returns to the public domain in sixteen years (2031). However, sets of parts already owned can be lent – we’re using the set belonging to Hunter College (CUNY).Peter and the Wolf is a symphonic fairy tale for narrator and orchestra composed by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936, in which each character in the story is represented by a different instrument or family of instruments. It is one of the most beloved and effective introductions to the orchestra ever created.
Prokofiev composed Peter and the Wolf in just four days in April 1936, and it was premiered in Moscow on May 2, 1936, at a children's concert conducted by Natalia Sats.
A typical performance including narration lasts approximately 25 to 30 minutes.
Each character has their own musical theme played by a specific instrument — the flute for the bird, the oboe for the duck, the clarinet for the cat, the bassoon for grandfather, the French horns for the wolf, and strings for Peter. Listen for how Prokofiev weaves these themes together as the story unfolds, creating a genuine musical drama.
Prokofiev composed Peter and the Wolf at the request of the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow, intending it as an educational piece to introduce children to orchestral instruments. He wrote both the music and the story himself in an extraordinarily short time, producing what has become perhaps the most successful children's musical work ever written.
