Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67 (1936)
Symphonic fairy tale for narrator and orchestra, written for children
Music
Sergei Prokofiev
1891–1953 · Russian (Soviet)
Modernism / Neoclassicism / Soviet music
Sergei Prokofiev was a Russian composer and pianist, born in what is now Ukraine, whose music combines biting wit, lyrical melody and motoric energy. He spent years in the West after the Revolution before returning permanently to the Soviet Union in 1936, where he wrote Peter and the Wolf and Romeo and Juliet.
How to spot them
- ▸Peter and the Wolf: a narrator plus instruments as characters — strings for Peter, flute for the bird, oboe for the duck, clarinet for the cat, bassoon for Grandfather, three horns for the wolf
- ▸"Dance of the Knights" from Romeo and Juliet: heavy, menacing dotted rhythms stomping in the brass and low strings (the theme of The Apprentice)
- ▸Sardonic, angular melodies with sudden leaps and 'wrong-note' swerves, over driving, machine-like rhythms
- ▸Sleigh bells and a jaunty tune in "Troika" from Lieutenant Kijé, a Christmas favourite
Key works — listen
Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64 (1935)
Full-length ballet containing "Montagues and Capulets" (Dance of the Knights); premiered in Brno in 1938
Symphony No. 1 in D major, "Classical", Op. 25 (1916–17)
A witty modern imitation of Haydn's style
Lieutenant Kijé, Op. 60 (1934)
Suite from his film score about a non-existent officer; includes "Troika"
Alexander Nevsky, Op. 78 (1938–39)
Cantata from his score for Eisenstein's film, including "The Battle on the Ice"
The Love for Three Oranges, Op. 33 (1919 (premiered 1921))
Satirical opera premiered in Chicago; its brisk March is famous on its own
Quick-fire facts
- •He died on 5 March 1953, the same day as Joseph Stalin
- •He was born in Sontsovka, in present-day Ukraine
- •Peter and the Wolf was written for Natalya Sats's Central Children's Theatre in Moscow
- •He left Russia in 1918, lived in the United States and Paris, and settled back in the Soviet Union in 1936
- •He was condemned for "formalism" in the 1948 Zhdanov decree, along with Shostakovich
- •"Troika" from Lieutenant Kijé is borrowed in Greg Lake's "I Believe in Father Christmas"
- •"Dance of the Knights" is the theme tune of the BBC's The Apprentice
- •He was a keen chess player who once beat José Raúl Capablanca in a simultaneous exhibition game
Drill it — 9 cards
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Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Sergey Prokofiev
- Grove Music Online (Oxford University Press) — Prokofiev, Sergey