Peter and the Wolf
Symphonic children's tale
Peter and the Wolf is a 1936 orchestral composition by Sergei Prokofiev, designed to introduce children to the instruments of the orchestra.
Each character—Peter, the wolf, a bird, a duck, a cat, and Peter's grandfather—is represented by a different instrument or instrumental group.
A narrator tells the story while the orchestra plays.
The piece remains a staple of music education: Every kid learns Peter and the Wolf in elementary school.
- ProkofievTwentieth-century Russian composer
- duckWaterbird that quacks
- catSmall furry housepet
- birdFeathered flying vertebrate
- animal charactersNon-human fictional personas
grandfather · hunters · orchestra · fairy tale · cautionary tale · flute · oboe · clarinet · bassoon · French horn · strings · timpani · Russia · musical · meadow · forest · pond · capture
- classical musicBach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms
- kids musicsinging, songs, lullabies, nursery rhymes, alphabet songs
- Modern ClassicalStravinsky, Schoenberg, Bartok, Shostakovich, Prokofiev
- Program Musicsymphonic poem, tone poem, tone poems, Don Juan, Don Quixote
- Wolveswerewolf, werewolves, howl, howling, pack hunting
Peter and the Wolfmusique concrète
Electroacoustic genre using recordings
electronic music · opera · ballet · chamber music · string quartet