Peter and the Wolf and the Orchestra

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2QIzHA3hVE&t=43s

Children and adults alike have delighted in the children's theater composition, Peter and the Wolf (1936), by Russian composer Sergey Prokofiev (1891-1953).  The composer set each character in the story to a particular instrument or group of instruments: Peter is the string orchestra, the bird is the flute, the wolf is the french horn ensemble and so on.  So in addition to enjoying a delightful tale about the boy and his animal friends capturing the threatening wolf, children (and adults) can learn to recognize the sounds of the instruments. 

The story is subtly subversive toward authority (Grandpapa, the bassoon), although whether the authority is the old Czarist regime or the communist government currently ruling Russia at the time of the piece's composition, or some other authority, I'm not sure.  Subversive children's stories are more common than we might think.  Other children's stories with a subtle, subversive message are Where the Wild Things Are, The Red Balloon, The Story of Ferdinand, The Lorax, and Curious George. 

I like the recording of Peter and the Wolf  by the Vancouver Symphony because the conductor, Bramwell Tovey supplies the narration and because we can hear the audience's reaction to his somewhat flamboyant telling of the story.  It's worth the 29-minute listen--and it's worth inviting any children in one's life to listen along. 

The piece makes a wonderful companion to Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. 

Next post: Charlotte and Jonathan fabulous teen-age singers