“Peter and the Wolf” is a composition by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) written in 1936 as a children’s story, spoken by a narrator and performed by the orchestra. Each character in the story has a particular instrument and a musical theme, which is called a “leitmotiv”.
a) Listen to the beginning of the piece. Here is the text spoken by the narrator, but there are some words missing.
Fill in the gaps with the words you hear.
This is the story of Peter and the Wolf. Each character in this tale is going to be represented by a different …………… of the………………. For instance, the bird will be played by the …….. Like this. Here’s the duck, played by the ……….. The cat, by the ……………….. The ………………. will represent the grandfather. The wolf, by the …………………………. And Peter, by the ………………. The blast of the hunters’ shotguns, …………….. by the kettledrums. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin.
In 1946, Walt Disney produced an animated dramatization of Prokofiev’s composition. This version makes several changes to the original score, for example the animals have names, and the end of the story is different.
b) Watch Disney’s version of “Peter and the Wolf”. While watching, take notes on what happens in the story. At the end, working in groups of three, compare your notes with the rest of the group, and write a summary of the story of “Peter and the Wolf”.
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