Peter and the Wolf

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 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 [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]

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.

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]

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

• Woodwinds: a flute, an oboe, a clarinet in A, and a bassoon
• Brass: 3 horns in F, a trumpet in B♭ and a trombone
• Percussion: timpani, a triangle, a tambourine, cymbals, castanets, a snare drum, and a bass drum
• Strings: first and second violins, violas, violoncellos, and double basses

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

Bird

Flute

 

Duck

Oboe

 

Cat

Clarinet

 

Grandfather

Bassoon

 

Wolf

French horns

 

Hunters

woodwind and trumpet theme, with gunshots on timpani and bass drum

 

Peter

string instruments (including violin, viola, cello, and double bass)

 

A performance lasts about 25 minutes.^[11]

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]

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]

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.

• 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]

• c. 1960, Hans Conried recorded the narration with a Dixieland musical band. Because a Dixieland band uses different instruments from an orchestra, Peter was represented by the trumpets, the Bird by a clarinet, the Duck by a banjo, the Cat by a "cool cat" tenor saxophone, the Wolf by a tuba, the Hunters by the percussive ensemble, and Grandfather by a slide trombone.^[29] The characters of the Bee and the Flea are briefly introduced to demonstrate the "versatility of our chief percussionist" (played by a xylophone and glockenspiel, respectively).^[30]
• The Clyde Valley Stompers recorded a jazz version in 1962, which registered on the popular music charts.^[31]
• Allan Sherman parodied the work in the album Peter and the Commissar (1964), made with Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra.^[32]
• In 1966, Hammond organ player Jimmy Smith performed for a jazz album arranged by Oliver Nelson without the narration, but based on the original themes.^[33]
• In 1969, American-Canadian filmmaker Caroline Leaf used sand animation to adapt the work in Sand or Peter and the Wolf, her first film.^{[citation needed]}

• 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]}

• A 1990 episode of Tiny Toon Adventures titled "Buster and the Wolverine" featured Elmyra Duff providing narration for a story wherein Buster Bunny and his friends, represented with musical instruments, combat an evil "wolverine". In this episode, the characters' instruments are: Buster Bunny, a trumpet; Babs Bunny, a harp; Furrball, a violin; Sweetie, a flute; Hamton J. Pig, a tuba; Plucky Duck, a bike horn (later, bagpipes, then an organ, and finally a synthesizer); and the wolverine, drums.^[38]
• Peter Schickele (a.k.a. P. D. Q. Bach) wrote an alternate, comedic libretto entitled Sneaky Pete and the Wolf, converting the story into a Western, including a showdown between Sneaky Pete and the gunslinger El Lobo (which never happens due to some local boys' giving El Lobo a hotfoot and sticking a paper airplane in his eye, and Sneaky Pete's girlfriend Laura rendering El Lobo unconscious with a vacuum cleaner). It was recorded with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Yoel Levi, in 1993.^[39]
• In the 1993 Simpsons episode "Krusty Gets Kancelled", guest star Hugh Hefner plays a portion of Peter and the Wolf on wine glasses.
• In 1995, a 45-minute television special was made with a mix of live-action, animation, and characters from the story, designed by Chuck Jones.^[40] The film featured Kirstie Alley (as the narrator), Lloyd Bridges (as the grandfather), and Ross Malinger (as Peter), in a live-action "wraparound" segment. The version debuted on ABC on 8 December 1995. This version keeps the duck-friendly ending by having the swallowed duck pop out of the wolf's mouth alive, well, and dancing as the wolf is captured. The wolf, described as "not a ballet fan", grabs the duck again before the hunters force him to drop her. As the story ends, Peter finds the duck crouching at the pond's edge, shivering and frightened because of her terrible experience, and Peter reassures her that he will always protect her. This version places the bird as a mother, with six eggs that hatch near the ending. The music was performed by the RCA Victor Symphony Orchestra, conducted by George Daugherty. The version received a 1996 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program and received a second Emmy nomination for Daugherty, for Outstanding Music Direction. Daugherty (also one of the writers) and Janis Diamond received a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for the script. The production received a Gold Hugo and Silver Hugo at Chicago International Film Festival.
• During September 1996, Coldcut (a duo of scratch/mix DJs from south London) released a scratch version of the main theme, included on the track "More Beats + Pieces", from their album Let Us Play!.^[41]
• Matthew Hart choreographed Peter and the Wolf for television in 1997, performed by the dancers of the Royal Ballet School and narrated by Sir Anthony Dowell (who also danced the role of "The Grandfather").^[42]

• In 2001, National Public Radio produced Peter and the Wolf: A Special Report, which treated the plot as if it were a developing news story. Robert Siegel, Linda Wertheimer, Ann Taylor, and Steve Inskeep of NPR's All Things Considered report on the event against a performance of the score by the Virginia Symphony Orchestra conducted by JoAnn Falletta.^[43]
• Sesame Workshop produced a version with Sesame Street characters in 2000, as told by way of a trip to a Boston Pops Orchestra concert. Dubbed "Elmo's Musical Adventure", the story unfolds inside Baby Bear's imagination as he attends a performance with Papa Bear, conducted by Keith Lockhart. In the story, Peter was represented by Elmo, the cat by Oscar the Grouch, the duck by Telly Monster, the bird by Zoe, the grandfather by Big Bird, and the hunters by the Two-Headed Monster. Each character is followed around by a soloist playing that character's instrument, but Telly Monster's "Duck" quits the story after learning the wolf eats the duck. (He later returns as one of the hunters.)^{[citation needed]}
• In February 2004, Bill Clinton, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Sophia Loren won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children for narrating the album Peter and the Wolf/Wolf Tracks. The music was performed by the Russian National Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano and included Loren narrating Peter and the Wolf and Clinton narrating The Wolf and Peter by Jean-Pascal Beintus, which is another narrated orchestral piece, but the story is told from the perspective of the wolf and has the theme of letting animals live in peace.^[44]
• In 2004, Russian model Tatiana Sorokko narrated an arrangement of Beintus' Wolf Tracks with musicians from the Russian National Orchestra while on a US tour.^[45]
• In 2004, the Shirim Klezmer Orchestra recorded a klezmer version, called Pincus and the Pig: A Klezmer Tale. The recording was narrated by Maurice Sendak and featured his illustrations.^[46]
• In 2006, Neil Tobin produced a Halloween-themed narrative called Peter and the Werewolf with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, John Lanchbery conducting.^[47]
• In 2009, musical group Project Trio released their second studio album, Brooklyn, on which a modernized version of the story was recorded. All three members narrate.^[48]

• 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]

• 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]

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.

Notes

Sources

• Morrison, Simon (2009). The People's Artist – Prokofiev's Soviet Years. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-975348-2.

• Peter and the Wolf: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
• Gramophone: Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf – which recording is best?
• A list of the instruments and the story
• Peter and the Wolf in Brooklyn (December 2008)
• Breakthrough Films' claymation adaptation (2006) at the Wayback Machine (archived 9 May 2008)
• Michael Biel: "The Recordings of Peter and the Wolf" in Three Oranges, No. 12: November 2006, Serge Prokofiev Foundation; retrieved 23 May 2009.