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Peter and the Wolf

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Peter and the Wolf
Symphonic Tale for Children
by Sergei Prokofiev
From left to right: Prokofiev, his sons Sviatoslav and Oleg, and his first wife Lina, c. 1936
Native nameПетя и волк
Opus67
Commissioned byNatalya Sats
TextSergei Prokofiev
Natalya Sats
LanguageRussian
Composed1936
DedicationNatalya Sats
Durationc. 27 minutes
Premiere
DateMay 2, 1936 (1936-05-02)
LocationLarge Hall of the Moscow Conservatory
Moscow, Russian SFSR
ConductorSergei Prokofiev
PerformersT. Bobrov (narrator)
Orchestra of the Moscow Philharmonic Society [ru]

Peter and the Wolf (Russian: Петя и волк, romanized: Pétya i volk, IPA: [ˈpʲetʲə i volk]) Op. 67 a "symphonic tale for children", is a programmatic musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a Russian folk tale, which the orchestra illustrates by using different instruments to play a "theme" that represents each character in the story.

Background

[edit]

In 1936, Prokofiev was commissioned by Natalya Sats, the director of the Central Children's Theatre in Moscow, to write a musical symphony for children. Sats and Prokofiev had become acquainted after he visited her theatre with his sons several times.[1] The intent was to introduce children to the individual instruments of the orchestra to enjoy music and learn to recognize musical keys.

The first draft of the libretto was about a Young Pioneer (the compulsory, Soviet version of a Boy Scout) called Peter who rights a wrong by challenging an adult. However, Prokofiev was dissatisfied with the rhyming text produced by Nina Sakonskaya [ru] (real name Antonia Pavlovna Sokolovskaya, 1896–1951), a then-popular children's author. Prokofiev wrote a libretto in which Peter and his animal friends capture a wolf. As well as promoting desired Pioneer virtues such as vigilance, bravery, and resourcefulness, the plot illustrates Soviet themes such as the stubbornness of the un-Bolshevik older generation (the grandfather) and the triumph of Man (Peter) taming Nature (the wolf).[2]

Prokofiev produced a version for the piano in under a week, finishing it on April 15. The orchestration was finished on April 24. The work premiered at a children's concert in the main hall of the Moscow Conservatory with the Orchestra of the Moscow Philharmonic Society [ru] on 2 May 1936. However, Sats was ill, the substitute narrator was inexperienced, and the performance attracted little attention.[1][3][4][5] Later that month, a more successful performance with Sats narrating was given at the Moscow Pioneers Palace. The American premiere took place in March 1938, with Prokofiev conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall, Boston, and with Richard Hale narrating. By that time, Sats was serving a sentence in the gulag, where she was sent after her lover, Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky, was shot in June 1937.[6]

Synopsis

[edit]

Peter, a Young Soviet Pioneer,[7][2] lives at his grandfather's home in a forest clearing. One day, Peter goes out into the clearing, leaving the garden gate open, and a duck that lives in the yard takes the opportunity to swim in a pond nearby. The duck and a bird argue over whether a bird should be able to swim or fly. A local cat stalks them quietly, and the bird—warned by Peter—flies to safety in a tall tree while the duck swims to safety in the middle of the pond.

Peter's grandfather scolds him for staying outside and playing in the meadow alone, because a wolf might attack him. When Peter shows defiance, believing he has nothing to fear from wolves, his grandfather takes him back into the house and locks the gate. Soon afterwards, a ferocious grey wolf comes out of the forest. The cat quickly climbs into the tree with the bird, but the duck, who has jumped out of the pond, is chased, overtaken, and swallowed by the beast.

Seeing all of this from inside, Peter fetches a rope and climbs over the garden wall into the tree. He asks the bird to fly around the beast's head to distract him, while he lowers a noose and catches the wolf by his tail. The beast struggles to get free, but Peter ties the rope to the tree and the noose only gets tighter.

Hunters who have been tracking the wolf come out of the forest with their guns readied, but Peter gets them to instead help him take it to a zoo in a victory parade (the piece was first performed for an audience of Young Pioneers during May Day celebrations) that includes himself, the bird, the hunters leading the wolf, the cat, and lastly his grumbling Grandfather, still disappointed that Peter ignored his warnings, but proud that his grandson caught the beast.

At the end, the narrator states that careful listeners could hear the duck still quacking inside the wolf's belly, because he was swallowed whole.

Performance directions

[edit]

Prokofiev produced detailed performance notes in English and Russian. According to the English version:

Each character of this tale is represented by a corresponding instrument in the orchestra: the bird by a flute, the duck by an oboe, the cat by a clarinet playing staccato in a low register, the grandfather by a bassoon, the wolf by three horns, Peter by the string quartet, the shooting of the hunters by the kettle drums and bass drum. Before an orchestral performance it is desirable to show these instruments to the children and to play on them the corresponding leitmotivs. Thereby, the children learn to distinguish the sounds of the instruments during the performance of this tale.[8]

Instrumentation

[edit]

Peter and the Wolf is scored for an orchestra:[9]

Each character in the story has a particular instrument and musical theme:[10]

Bird
Flute
\relative c'''' { \clef treble \time 4/4 \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"flute" \tempo "Allegro" 4=176 \slashedGrace a8\mf( g8-.)[ e-.] \slashedGrace a( gis-.)[ gis-.] gis-.[ gis-.] \slashedGrace a( gis-.)[ e-.] | d16->( ees des c b8) \times 2/3 {a16( b a } g8->) g-. c-. e-. | \slashedGrace a8( g8-.)[ e-.] \slashedGrace a( gis-.)[ gis-.] gis-.[ gis-.] \slashedGrace a( gis-.)[ e-.] | d16->( ees des c g'!8-.) \slashedGrace b,( a-.) g2-> }
Duck
Oboe
\relative c' { \clef treble \time 3/4 \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"oboe" \tempo "L'istesso tempo"4=92 \key aes \major \slashedGrace fes8( ees2.\mf->) | \slashedGrace ees8( d[ des c des] \slashedGrace d g[ f)] | \slashedGrace fes( ees2.->) }
Cat
Clarinet
\relative c { \clef treble \time 4/4 \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"clarinet" \tempo "Moderato" \partial 4*1 d8-.\p g-. \bar "||" b4-. g8-. d-. cis4-. d8-. g-. | b-. d-. c4->~ c8 b g a | b( a) fis-. g-. a( g) e-. fis-. | g2-> }
Grandfather
Bassoon
\relative c { \clef bass \time 4/4 \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"bassoon" \tempo "Poco più andante" 4=92 \key b \minor \partial 16*1 b,16\f( \bar "||" fis'8)[ r16 fis] b,4->~ b8._\markup { \italic pesante } cis16 d8. e16 | fis8. d16 a'8 a a-> a-> \times 2/3 { a-> b-> bis-> } | cis4->~( \times 2/3 { cis8 d dis } ais) r }
Wolf
French horns
\relative c { \clef bass \time 4/4 \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"french horn" \tempo "Andante molto" 4=66 \key bes \major <d bes g>2->\mp <bes' g d>16( <a fis ees> <bes g d> <a fis ees> <bes g d>8) <bes g d> | <d bes g>-- <cis a ees>-- <d bes g>-- <bes g d>-- <c f, c>2-> |}
Hunters
woodwind and trumpet theme, with gunshots on timpani and bass drum
\relative c' { \clef treble \time 4/4 \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"trumpet"\tempo "Allegro moderato" 4=116 \partial 4*1 c4\mf( | des8)->[ r ees-. r e->] r c4( | des8->)[ r ees-. r e->] r c4 | des8-> e f aes c4-> b8 c | des-.[ r f-.] r e2-> }
Peter
string instruments (including violin, viola, cello, and double bass)
\relative c'' { \clef treble \time 4/4 \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"violin" \tempo "Andantino" 4=92 g4\p-- c8.( e16-.) g8-.[ a-.] g8.->( e16) | g8-.( a-.) b8.-> c16 g8( e) c-.( d-.) | ees4->\< ees8--( b'--) ees,4-- ees8--( b'--)\! | ees,4->\mf( bes) }

A performance lasts about 25 minutes.[11]

Recordings

[edit]

Jeremy Nicholas wrote for classical music magazine Gramophone in 2015, claiming that the best overall recording of Peter and the Wolf was by the New Philharmonia Orchestra, narrated by Richard Baker and conducted by Raymond Leppard in 1971. Gramophone's best DVD version is the 2006 film by Suzie Templeton; its music is performed, without narrator, by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Mark Stephenson.[12]

Year Narrator Orchestra Conductor Label Notes
1939 Richard Hale Boston Symphony Orchestra Serge Koussevitzky RCA Victor, DM 566 Set of 3 shellac 12" discs
1941 Basil Rathbone All-American Orchestra Leopold Stokowski Columbia Masterworks,
M 477 		Set of 3 shellac 12" discs, restored from original Masterworks set by Bob Varney[13]
1949 Sterling Holloway Graunke Symphony Orchestra Kurt Graunke[14] RCA Victor, WY 386 Set of 2 vinyl 10" discs, together with a Little Nipper Storybook from Disney; originally made for an episode in the 1946 film Make Mine Music
1949 Frank Phillips London Philharmonic Orchestra Nikolai Malko London Records,
LPS 151[15] 		Frank Phillips was a well-known BBC Radio newsreader
1950 Eleanor Roosevelt Boston Symphony Orchestra Serge Koussevitzky RCA Victor Red Seal,
LM 45 		mono recording; never reissued on CD
1950 Milton Cross Lucy Brown, piano Musicraft Records,
M 65 		4 shellac 10" 78-rpm discs
1953 Alec Guinness Boston Pops Orchestra Arthur Fiedler RCA Victor Red Seal,
LM 1761
1953 Victor Jory Peter Pan Orchestra Vicky Kosen Peter Pan Records mono recording; has never been issued on CD
1954 Richard Hale Boston Pops Orchestra Arthur Fiedler RCA Victor Red Seal
LM 1803
1955 Henry Morgan Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Otto Ackermann Concert Hall, MMS 88E The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra is named on this record "Concert Hall Symphony Orchestra".
1955 Arthur Godfrey Andre Kostelanetz's Orchestra Andre Kostelanetz Columbia Records mono recording; has never been issued on CD
1955 Brandon deWilde Pro Musica Symphony, Vienna Hans Swarowsky Vox Records PL9280 (mono), STPL59280 (stereo). Matrix VS3076
1956 Peter Ustinov Philharmonia Orchestra Herbert von Karajan Angel Records
1957 Cyril Ritchard Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy Columbia Records,
ML 5183
1957 Boris Karloff Vienna State Opera Orchestra Mario Rossi Vanguard Records
1959 Michael Flanders Philharmonia Orchestra Efrem Kurtz EMI Records
1959 José Ferrer Vienna State Opera Orchestra Sir Eugene Goossens Kapp Records Narrated in Spanish and English
1959 Richard Attenborough Philharmonia of Hamburg Hans-Jürgen Walter World Record Club,
SC-28
1960 Beatrice Lillie London Symphony Orchestra Skitch Henderson Decca Records
1960 Captain Kangaroo Stadium Symphony Orchestra of New York Leopold Stokowski Everest Records,
SDBR-3043
1960 Leonard Bernstein New York Philharmonic Leonard Bernstein Columbia Records The popularity of the group's televised Young People's Concerts made this an auspicious release
1960 Garry Moore Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of London Artur Rodziński Whitehall,
XWN 18525[16] 		The reverse side of this 12-inch LP record also features The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns with Garry Moore (narrator), Josef and Grete Dichler (duopianists), and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra conducted by Hermann Scherchen.
1961 Carlos Pellicer Orquesta Sinfónica de México Carlos Chávez Mexican Columbia,
MC 1360
1962 Kenneth Horne Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra Otto Ackermann Concert Hall, CM 88E
1963 Alec Clunes French National Orchestra Lorin Maazel Deutsche Grammophon In the French release the narrator is Madeleine Renaud. For the German release the narrator is Mathias Wieman. For the Italian release the narrator is Eduardo De Filippo. For the Spanish release the narrator is Juan Pulido. For the Japanese release the narrator is Tetsuko Kuroyanagi.
1963 Eric Shilling Czech Philharmonic Orchestra Karel Ančerl Supraphon
SU3676-2
1965 Lorne Greene London Symphony Orchestra Sir Malcolm Sargent RCA Victor Red Seal
LSC 2783
1965 Sean Connery Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Antal Doráti Phase 4 Stereo
1967 Eric Robinson Royal Philharmonic Orchestra James Walker Reader's Digest,
RD4-710-1
1968 Robie Lester Graunke Symphony Orchestra Kurt Graunke Disneyland originally from the 1946 film Make Mine Music
1969 Paul Daneman The Little Symphony Of London Arthur Davison Music for Pleasure The reverse side of this recording is Sleigh Ride (dance 3 of Three German Dances by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), and Toy Symphony (generally attributed to Leopold Mozart).
1970 Sir Ralph Richardson London Symphony Orchestra Sir Malcolm Sargent Decca Records Volume 5 of The World of the Great Classics series. This version is praised in various editions of The Stereo Record Guide as the finest recording and narration of the work ever made.
1971 Richard Baker New Philharmonia Orchestra Raymond Leppard EMI
1972 George Raft London Festival Orchestra Stanley Black Phase 4 Stereo,
SPC-21084 		In this version, the story is reformulated as a gangster tale in the style of the Hollywood films that Raft had once acted in.
1972 Rob Reiner studio orchestra Jerry Yester United Artists Records,
UAS-5646 		Contemporary version by Carl Gottlieb and Rob Reiner; never released on CD
1973 Mia Farrow London Symphony Orchestra André Previn EMI, ASD 2935
1973 Alec McCowen Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Bernard Haitink Philips Records,
6599 436 		The German release featured Hermann Prey as narrator.
1974 Will Geer English Chamber Orchestra Johannes Somary Vanguard Records,
VSO-30033
1975 Viv Stanshall various rock musicians, including Manfred Mann, Gary Moore, Phil Collins, Brian Eno, Gary Brooker, Bill Bruford, Cozy Powell, Chris Spedding, Alvin Lee, and Julie Tippett Esoteric Recordings (remastered and re-released November 2021 as ECLEC2781) Billed as a 'rock version' of Prokofiev's work
1975 Hermione Gingold Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Karl Böhm Deutsche Grammophon The original German LP release featured Karlheinz Böhm as narrator (2530 587). The UK, and Australian releases featured Hermione Gingold (2530 588). The French release featured narrator Jean Richard (2530 640).
1977 Angela Rippon Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Owain Arwel Hughes Enigma Records Limited, K 53553
1978 David Bowie Philadelphia Orchestra Eugene Ormandy RCA Red Seal Bowie's recording reached number 136 on the US Pop Albums chart.
1979 Carol Channing Cincinnati Pops Orchestra Erich Kunzel Caedmon Records,
TC-1623
1980 Tom Seaver Cincinnati Pops Orchestra Erich Kunzel MMG
1984 Dudley Moore,
Terry Wogan 		Boston Pops Orchestra John Williams Philips The American release (412 559–2) was narrated by Dudley Moore, while the UK release (412 556–2) featured Terry Wogan as narrator.
1984 William F. Buckley Jr. RTL Orchestra Luxembourg Leopold Hager Proarte Digital Records
1986 Itzhak Perlman Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Zubin Mehta EMI EMI/Angel also released an LP and later a CD with Perlman narrating in Hebrew.
1987 André Previn Royal Philharmonic Orchestra André Previn Telarc,
CD 80126
1987 Lina Prokofiev Royal Scottish National Orchestra Neeme Järvi Chandos Records,
ABRD 1221 		Lina Prokofiev was Sergei Prokofiev's first wife
1987 Paul Hogan Orchestre de Paris Igor Markevitch EMI It retained the traditional plot but transferred the locale to the Australian Outback. This recording was withdrawn soon after its release because of unflattering portrayals of Australia's aboriginal people and is now considered "out of print".
1988 "Weird Al" Yankovic LSI Philharmonic Wendy Carlos CBS Records Released as an orchestral comic adaptation of the story, narrated by "Weird Al" Yankovic. This also features "The Carnival of the Animals – Part Two", a parody of The Carnival of the Animals.
1989 Jonathan Winters Philharmonia Orchestra Efrem Kurtz Angel Records
1989 Sir Peter Ustinov Philharmonia Orchestra Philip Ellis Cirrus Classics,
CRS CD 105[17]
1989 Jeremy Nicholas Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Ondrej Lenárd Naxos Records
1989 Christopher Lee English String Orchestra Sir Yehudi Menuhin Nimbus Records
1989 Sir John Gielgud Orchestra of the Academy of London Richard Stamp Virgin Classics Sir John's royalties for this recording were donated to The League of Friends of Charity Heritage, a facility for physically handicapped children.
1989 Noni Hazlehurst Sydney Symphony Orchestra Stuart Challender ABC Records Hazlehurst also narrated the Saint-Saëns/Ogden Nash The Carnival of the Animals on the same album
1990 Sting Chamber Orchestra of Europe Claudio Abbado Deutsche Grammophon CD, EAN 0028942939622. This was used in 1993 as the soundtrack to the television special Peter and the Wolf: A Prokofiev Fantasy. The French release features Charles Aznavour as narrator, the Italian Roberto Benigni (EAN 0028942939424).
1991 Oleg and Gabriel Prokofiev New London Orchestra Ronald Corp Hyperion Records The narrators were the son and grandson of the composer.
1991 Dom DeLuise The Little Orchestra Society Dino Anagnost Musicmasters Classics,
MMD 67067 		This was part of the album called "Three Children's Classics".
1991 Jack Lemmon Prague Festival Orchestra Pavel Urbanek Delta/Laserlight CD, EAN 0018111538626
1993 Peter Schickele Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Yoel Levi Telarc With a new text by Peter Schickele.
1994 Patrick Stewart Orchestra of the Opéra National de Lyon Kent Nagano Erato
1994 Melissa Joan Hart Boston Symphony Orchestra Seiji Ozawa Sony Classical Hart was in her "Clarissa" persona from the Nickelodeon television series Clarissa Explains It All.
1994 Sir John Gielgud Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Andrea Licata Intersound Recordings
1995 Kirstie Alley RCA Symphony Orchestra George Daugherty Sony Masterworks From the Chuck Jones TV special Peter and the Wolf
1996 Ben Kingsley London Symphony Orchestra Sir Charles Mackerras Cala Records
1997 Dame Edna Everage Melbourne Symphony Orchestra John Lanchbery Naxos Records
1997 Anthony Dowell Ross MacGibbon, director (video) Film of a ballet performance, starring David Johnson, Layla Harrison, Karan Lingham[18]
2000 David Attenborough BBC Philharmonic Yan Pascal Tortelier BBC Music for BBC Music Magazine; a free CD came with the June 2000 issue
2000 Lenny Henry Nouvel Ensemble Instrumental Du Conservatoire National Supérieur De Paris Jacques Pési EMI
2001 Sharon Stone Orchestra of St. Luke's James Levine Deutsche Grammophon as part of A Classic Tale: Music for Our Children (289 471 171–72, 2001)
2001 Joey Mazzarinoas Papa Bear The Boston Pops Orchestra Keith Lockhart Sony Wonder as part of Elmo's Musical Adventure
2003 Antonio Banderas,
Sophia Loren 		Russian National Orchestra Kent Nagano PENTATONE,
PTC 5186014 		In Spanish
2003 Mikhail Gorbachev,
Bill Clinton,
Sophia Loren 		Russian National Orchestra Kent Nagano PENTATONE,
PTC 5186011 		Released as Wolf Tracks and Peter and the Wolf. Loren narrated Peter and the Wolf, Clinton narrated Wolf Tracks (composed by Jean-Pascal Beintus with text by Walt Kraemer), and Gorbachev narrated the Introduction, Intermezzo, and Epilogue. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children.
2004 Bradley Cole Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Sopot, Ladies Swing Quartet Wojciech Rajski Tacet [de]
2005 Willie Rushton London Philharmonic Orchestra Siân Edwards Classics for Pleasure
2006 Colm Feore[19] Windsor Symphony Orchestra John Morris Russell
2007 Michael York Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra Miguel Harth-Bedoya
2008 Jacqueline du Pré[20] English Chamber Orchestra Daniel Barenboim Deutsche Grammophon
2011 Phillip Schofield Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse Michel Plasson EMI
2012 Bramwell Tovey Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Bramwell Tovey Video on YouTube
2015 Alice Cooper Bundesjugendorchester Alexander Shelley Deutsche Grammophon
2015 Harry Shearer Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra Carlos Miguel Prieto
2015 David Tennant The Amazing Keystone Band Le Chant du Monde
2017 Miriam Margolyes Adelaide Symphony Orchestra Nicholas Carter ABC Classics[21] With Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra and Borodin's "Polovtsian Dances"
2017 Alexander Armstrong Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Vasily Petrenko Warner Classics
2018 Giacomo Gates New England Jazz Ensemble Jeff Holmes Self-released Complete Peter and the Wolf score arranged for jazz ensemble by Walter Gwardyak with modern libretto by Giacomo Gates; Video on YouTube
2021 Viola Davis Los Angeles Philharmonic Gustavo Dudamel Video on YouTube

Adaptations

[edit]

Walt Disney, 1946

[edit]
Main article: Peter and the Wolf (1946 film)
Disney's 1946 animated short

Prokofiev, while touring the West in 1938, visited Los Angeles and met Walt Disney. Prokofiev performed the piano version for "le papa de Mickey Mouse" (French for "Mickey Mouse's dad"), as Prokofiev described him in a letter to his sons. Disney was impressed, and considered adding an animated version of Peter and the Wolf to Fantasia, which was to be released in 1940. Due to World War II, these plans fell through, and it was not until 1946 that Disney released his adaptation, narrated by Sterling Holloway. It is not known whether Prokofiev, who was by that point behind the Iron Curtain, was aware of this.[22] It was released theatrically as a segment of Make Mine Music, then reissued the next year, accompanying a reissue of Fantasia (as a short subject), then separately on home video in the 1990s.[23] This version made several changes to the original, including:

  • During the character introduction, the pets are given names: Sasha the songbird, Sonia the duck, and Ivan the cat.
  • As the production begins, Peter and his friends already know that a wolf is nearby and are preparing to catch him.
  • The hunters get names later in the story: Misha, Yasha, and Vladimir.
  • Peter daydreams of hunting and catching the wolf, and for that purpose exits the garden carrying a wooden pop gun.
  • At the end, in a reversal of the original (and to make the story more child-friendly), the narrator reveals that Sonia had not been eaten by the wolf. Earlier in the film, the wolf is shown chasing Sonia, who hides in a tree's hollow trunk. The wolf attacks out of view and returns in view with feathers in his mouth, licking his jaws. Peter, Ivan, and Sasha assume Sonia has been eaten. After the wolf is caught, Sasha is shown mourning Sonia. She comes out of the tree trunk at that point, and they are happily reunited.

In 1957, for one of his television programs, Disney recalled how Prokofiev had visited, inspiring Disney's animated version. Disney used pianist Ingolf Dahl, who resembled Prokofiev, to re-create how the composer had played the themes from the score.[24][25]

British–Polish co-production, 2006

[edit]

In 2006, Suzie Templeton and Hugh Welchman directed and produced, respectively, a stop-motion animated adaptation. It is unusual in its lack of dialogue or narration. The story was told only via images and music and interrupted by sustained periods of silence. The soundtrack was performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra, The film premiered with a live accompaniment in the Royal Albert Hall.[26] The film won the Annecy Cristal and the Audience Award at the 2007 Annecy International Animated Film Festival,[27] and the 2007 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. This version makes some changes to the original Prokofiev story, including:

  • Peter bumps into one of the "hunters" (teenage bullies in this telling), who throws him in a rubbish bin and aims at him with his rifle to scare him; the second hunter watches without interfering (thus, a dislike towards the hunter/bullies is immediately created).
  • Because of a broken wing, the bird has trouble flying and takes Peter's balloon to help it get aloft.
  • Peter captures the wolf in a net and then the hunter gets him in his rifle's sight coincidentally, but just before shooting, the second hunter stumbles, falls on him and makes him miss the shot.
  • The caged wolf is brought into the village on a cart, where Peter's grandfather tries to sell it. The hunter comes to the container and sticks his rifle in to intimidate the animal (as he did with Peter earlier on). At that time Peter throws the net on the hunter, entangling the hunter.
  • Before the grandfather has made a deal, Peter unlocks the cart after looking into the eyes of the wolf. They walk side by side through the awestruck crowd and then the freed wolf runs away in the direction of the silver moon shining over the forest.

Others

[edit]
2007 production, Toronto, Canada

Up to 1959

[edit]
  • In 1958, a videotaped television special entitled Art Carney Meets Peter and the Wolf, starring Carney, along with the Bil Baird Marionettes, was presented by the American Broadcasting Company, and was successful enough to be twice rebroadcast. The show had an original storyline in which Carney interacted with talking marionette animals, notably the troublemaking wolf. This first half was presented as a musical, with adapted music from Lieutenant Kijé and other Prokofiev works that had English lyrics fitted to them. The program then segued into a complete performance of Peter and the Wolf, performed as written by the composer, and "mimed" by both "human" and "animal" marionettes. The conclusion featured Carney interacting with the animal marionettes. The show was nominated for three Emmy Awards.[28]

1960s

[edit]

1980s

[edit]
  • Ray Bolger served as the narrator for a 1981 live-action version with live animals, directed by Dan Bessie and produced by Pyramid Media. The music was performed by the Santa Cruz Chamber Orchestra conducted by Dr. Lewis Keizer.[34][35]
  • The 1983 film A Christmas Story features music from Peter and the Wolf during scenes of the character Scut Farkus bullying other characters. The surname Farkus is a variation of farkas, which is Hungarian for "wolf".
  • In 1985, Arnie Zane choreographed a punk music ballet version.[36]
  • In 1988, "Weird Al" Yankovic and Wendy Carlos produced a comedic version, using a synthesized orchestra and many additions to the story and music (e.g., Peter captures the wolf using his grandfather's dental floss, leading to the moral of the story: "Oral hygiene is very important").[37]
  • In 1989, in an episode of the Muppet Babies entitled "Skeeter and the Wolf", Skeeter fills in for Peter, Gonzo is the bird, Scooter is the cat, Fozzie is the duck, Nanny is the grandparent, and Kermit and Piggy are the hunters.[citation needed]

1990s

[edit]

2000s

[edit]

2010s

[edit]
  • In 2010, Denver musicians Munly and the Lupercalians released Petr & the Wulf, an alternative take told from the perspectives of each character: Grandfater, Petr, Scarewulf, Cat, Bird, The Three Hunters, Duk, and Wulf. Released on the Alternative Tentacles label.[49]
  • In 2012, ITV used a version of the main theme as the title music for their coverage of the European Football Championships, because Prokofiev was born in present-day Ukraine, one of the host countries.[50]
  • In 2019, composer Lior Navok released Brave Little Timmy for narrator and orchestra (same instrumentation as Peter and the Wolf). The libretto, written by the composer, tells the story of Timmy, whose distant friendship with a wolf saved the latter from the hunters.[51]

2020s

[edit]
  • In 2023, Gavin Friday, with directors Elliot Dear and Stephen McNally (musician) released an animated version based on Bono's drawings on Max. This adaptation, narrated by Friday, alters the story slightly: Peter had lost his mother to an unspecified illness, implied to be cancer. The Wolf has puppies, one of whom reminds Peter of himself, and thus the Wolf reminds him of his late mother. Peter and his grandfather deceive the hunters and release the Wolf. The black and white short film and its theme song by Friday, "There's Nothing To Be Afraid Of", support the Irish Hospice Foundation.[52]
[edit]

In the United States, the US Supreme Court's decision in 2012 in Golan v. Holder restored copyright protection in the United States to numerous foreign works that had entered the public domain. Peter and the Wolf was frequently cited by the parties and amici, as well as by the Court's opinion and by the press, as an example of a well-known work that would be removed from the public domain by the decision.[53] The restored copyright per current law is 95 years after publication. Therefore the piece is expected to enter the public domain on December 31, 2031.

In many other countries, the piece is already in the public domain.

References

[edit]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Robinson, Harlow (10 November 1985). "Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf is 50 Years Old". The New York Times.
  2. ^ a b Morrison 2009, p. 46.
  3. ^ McSmith, Andy (7 July 2015). Fear and the Muse Kept Watch: The Russian Masters from Akhmatova and Pasternak to Shostakovich and Eisenstein Under Stalin. New Press, The. p. 229. ISBN 9781620970799.
  4. ^ "Boston Symphony Orchestra concert program, Subscription Series, Season 57 (1937-1938), Week 20 :: BSO Program Books". cdm15982.contentdm.oclc.org.
  5. ^ Prokofiev, Sergei (1960). Shlifstein, S (ed.). Autobiography, Articles, Reminiscences. Translated by Prokofieva, Rose. The Minerva Group, Inc (published 2000). p. 89. ISBN 0-89875-149-7.
  6. ^ "Performance History Search". archives.bso.org.
  7. ^ "Snaring a fresh audience using a cautionary tale" by Elissa Blake, The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 August 2013
  8. ^ Morrison 2009, pp. 46–47.
  9. ^ "Scores – Prokofiev, Sergei – Prokofiev, Sergei / Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67 – Score and Parts – ID: 2444". New York Philharmonic Orchestra Archives. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  10. ^ Estrella, Espie. "'Peter and the Wolf': Characters and Instruments". About.com. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  11. ^ "New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Leonard Bernstein, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky – Peter And The Wolf / Nutcracker Suite". Discogs. 1964. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  12. ^ "Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf – which recording is best?" by Jeremy Nicholas, Gramophone, 14 January 2015
  13. ^ "Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67. audio recording". Columbia Masterworks Records, Internet Archive. July 1941.
  14. ^ "Walt Disney's Peter and the Wolf on Records". cartoonresearch.com. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  15. ^ Peter and the Wolf at Discogs (list of releases)
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Sources

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