Welcome to Day 1 of Busy Kids Do Peter & the Wolf Camp!

Today we’re going to begin our study of the musical symphony for children, Peter and the Wolf. Today we’ll learn the story and listen to some of the instruments that are part of the story. You’ll also get to put on your composer hat and think about how you would create your own musical symphony!

Let’s get started!

LEARN THE STORY

 In 1936, Peter Prokofiev, a Russian Composer, was commissioned to write a symphony for children to introduce them to different instruments in the orchestra. When Peter and the Wolf is performed, a narrator tells the story and the symphony illustrates the story. 

Let’s start by reading a synopsis of the story here.  (This is a color-rich PDF so I suggest reading it online rather than printing it!).

MEET THE CAST

Now that you know the story of Peter and the Wolf, let’s meet the instruments who create the sounds for each character in our story.

Listen to an example of each instrument in the cast by watching this video until the 02:20 mark:

THINK LIKE A COMPOSER

Think of your favorite story, and which instruments you might use to “play” the characters if a symphony were to perform the story.

For example, if I were to cast the fairytale Cinderella, for an orchestral performance, I think my cast would look like this:

Cinderella: violin

Prince: trumpet

Wicked Stepsisters: flutes

Wicked Stepmother: oboe

Fairy Godmother: celeste

Share what story you would pick and how you would cast it in the comments at the bottom of this page!

ILLUSTRATE THE STORY

I mentioned above that the symphony illustrates the story of Peter and the Wolf. That means the musicians create a picture of the story, just as you would find in a pictures in a book.

Listen to the above performance of Peter and the Wolf again, this time from the 2:20 to 11:40 mark.

As you listen to the symphony illustrate this first part of the story, draw and color a picture of what you hear.

Below are some questions you might think through to help you create your illlustration.

What do the woods and meadow look like that surround Peter and Grandfather’s house?

What colors do you see?

Where do the duck, cat and bird like to play?

What do the animals look like? Are they big or small? Colorful? Soft? 

Thank you for joining me for Day 1 of our music camp. I’ll see you tomorrow for more musical learning!