In order to use this website accurately, you must have this Compact disc to use the recording
files: Naxos Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf Cat. 8.550.499Photo courtesy of Naxos webpage http://www.hnh.com/CAT/550499.HTM
The title of the piece you will be reading about in this lesson is "Peter and the Wolf" by Sergey Prokofiev. Written originally as a piece to introduce children to the different instruments of the orchestra, the piece includes a narration of a storyline accompanied by the orchestra. The story is mainly about a boy named Peter whose disobedience takes him on a wild adventure in the forest by his house. His grandfather had asked him specifically to stay out of the forest because of a wolf that had been seen prowling around in there. Of course, Peter disobeys his grandfather and heads for the forest, hoping to catch a glimpse of the wolf. As he is in the forest, he meets many animal characters such as a bird, a duck, a cat, and others. Eventually, he spots the wolf, and the wolf spots the animals with that Peter has made friends. Each animal is accompanied by a different musical theme, and each part of the story is specifically accompanied by a different theme. The piece in its entirety lasts about 21 minutes. Discussed in this lesson are the underlying characteristics of music and how they help to personalize the piece in its own unique way.
Rhythm plays a major role in the makeup of this piece. It is what defines the themes by speeding up and slowing down the melodic lines. Fast rhythms are used to create mood in the bird's theme, the duck's theme, the grandfather, and the escaping wolf. Slow rhythms are used to create mood in the cat, the duck (two styles are included in this theme), the main wolf theme, and the Peter theme. As the story progresses, the rhythms accelerate and slow down to personalize the entire work. The meter of the piece is mainly simple quadruple, meaning it is made up of four, two eigth-note groupings per measure. The final themes use heavy accenting to imitate march steps as Peter and the hunters march in a parade to take the wolf away.
Fast themes include:
../SAVE%20HERE%21%21%21%21%21/Christopher%20Johnson/bird.vcd
../SAVE%20HERE%21%21%21%21%21/Christopher%20Johnson/duckpw.vcd
../SAVE%20HERE%21%21%21%21%21/Christopher%20Johnson/grandpa.vcd
../SAVE%20HERE%21%21%21%21%21/Christopher%20Johnson/escwolf.vcd
Slow themes include:
../SAVE%20HERE%21%21%21%21%21/Christopher%20Johnson/cattheme.vcd
../SAVE%20HERE%21%21%21%21%21/Christopher%20Johnson/wolfthme.vcd
../SAVE%20HERE%21%21%21%21%21/Christopher%20Johnson/peterthm.vcdNote: Use the duck theme from above for an example of slow rhythms.
Of course, the melody is what makes the piece what it is. The lines are somewhat childish in style, constantly skipping around, imitating a child running through a forest with the animals. Understanding how the different themes sound allows the listener to distinguish the different characters and eventually to learn about Prokofiev's ultimate goal, what each instrument's unique sound in the orchestra sounds like. This unique sound of an instrument is known as timbre. Each instrument has its own unique sound, and that is what composers use to determine what instruments to write for when composing a piece of music. The effect of hearing all the instruments in the orchestra together is the overall goal of the composer to pass on to you, the listener.
Expanding on what was previously stated, harmony is the next most important goal of the composer. People naturally want to listen to good-sounding music. Therefore when Prokofiev wished to introduce the orchestra to children, he wrote a piece of music that children would enjoy listening to and would learn from it. The jarmony in this piece is very tonal, meaning that it has a center of pitch to the sound. Very little dissonance is used in this piece, some in the grandfather theme, but mostly in the wolf themes to emphasize the villainous characteristics of the wolf. In the parade theme, the lush harmony used here represents a feeling of victory, somewhat similar to what a concert march would envelop.
This piece is set up in a format that each theme represents an animal [as stated earlier in the introductory paragraph of this lesson]. This constant changing of themes is another characteristic of this work, a characteristic known as form. A specific term used for when a piece is using multiple themes to tell a story or to personalize a certain theme is called tonal painting. Very little repetition is used, and what is used goes along with the sound story. The work is intended to be understood as a children's story, with different characters entering and leaving the story at different times. It is not difficult to detemine when a theme ends and anew one begins due to the dramatic contrast in style between most of the sections or characters' themes. This is also a vital characteristic of the work.
The expressive elements of this work are constantly involved in personalizing the composition and giving it a feeling of a children's story. Dynamics and phrase markings are enough to change the style between the grandfather and the bird. both lines have similar rhythms and melodies, however the style of each is what gives each theme its own feeling. Tempo is different for many of the themes, which allows for the ease of storytelling. Fast tempo may give the feeling of running while slow tempo may give the feeling of the wolf stalking his prey in the forest.
../SAVE%20HERE%21%21%21%21%21/Christopher%20Johnson/wolfthme.vcd
The composer, Sergey Prokofiev, lived from 1891-1953. He lived in Russia and wrote many pieces based on related arts such as children's stories and classic literature. Such literature includes Cinderella and Romeo and Juliet. Similar techniques from "Peter and the Wolf" are used to personalize the works and to tell a sound story. Many composers write in similar ways to portray a certain feeling towards a related art, some with a feeling of beauty, some with a feeling of appreciation, and even a feeling of obsession. This is a method of expression that is used in many arts and not just music, proving that the arts are intertwined and related to one another.
This style of writing, a style of children's literature to tell a sound story, is a trait of Russian culture. Many Russian composers write very nationalistically, including the Russian national anthem in many of their works giving their music a sense of origin and style. This is the style of the Russian era as most people listened to this style of music. Many Russian works are based on a ballet, a play, or even a children's story. "Peter and the Wolf" is a classic work that is definitely a product of this era in music and related art. It has definitely lasted the test of time as a great work of the Russian culture. Picture of Sergey Prokofiev, courtesy of
http://www.prokofiev.org
Click on this link to listen to the entire "Peter and the Wolf"
../SAVE%20HERE%21%21%21%21%21/Christopher%20Johnson/ptrwlf.vcdClick on this link to take a ten-question quiz on Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf."
quiz.html
