Peter and the Wolf
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 musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a children's story, which the orchestra illustrates by using different instruments to play a "theme" that represents each character in the story.
For other uses, see Peter and the Wolf (disambiguation).Peter and the Wolf
Петя и волк
67
Sergei Prokofiev
Natalya Sats
Russian
1936
Natalya Sats
c. 27 minutes
May 2, 1936
Large Hall of the Moscow Conservatory
Moscow, Russian SFSR
Sergei Prokofiev
T. Bobrov (narrator)
Orchestra of the Moscow Philharmonic Society
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 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 (real name Antonia Pavlovna Sokolovskaya, 1896–1951), a then-popular children's author. Prokofiev wrote a libretto in which Peter captures 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 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 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.
Peter and the Wolf is scored for an orchestra:[9]
Each character in the story has a particular instrument and musical theme:[10]
A performance lasts about 25 minutes.[11]
In copyright law[edit]
In 2012, the US Supreme Court's decision 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.[49] 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.
Notes
Sources