> Premiering in 1936 at the Moscow Children's Theater, the orchestral work knownas "Peter and the Wolf" was written by which composer?And the answer: Sergei Prokofiev. Photo courtesy: outschool.comWritten as a "symphonic fairy tale for children," Peter and the Wolf features anarrator who tells the story of Peter, his grandfather, and his encounters withvarious animals, while the orchestra illustrates the themes and characters ofthe story.In 1936, Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev began his work on Peter and the Wolf as a commission for the Moscow Children's Theater. Inspired by the idea ofassociating a motif with a single instrument (or group of instruments), thecomposer completed the entire score and story within the course of two weeks. Inthe end, the score was ripe for teaching children what and how each instrumentmay be used, and not without a moral to take away as well. The story is as follows: a boy (depicted by strings) wanders through the wood.He spots a duck (oboe), a bird (flute), and a cat (clarinet). After anunsuccessful attempt by the cat to catch the bird, the boy's grandfather(bassoon) enters the scene to reprimand the young boy for straying too close towhere the wolf prowls. Allowing his grandfather to guide him home, Peter sureenough soon spots the wolf (horns), who threatens the duck, cat, and bird. Peterbravely catches the wolf with a bit of rope, and urges the hunters who arrive(timpani and bass drum) to take the wolf to a zoo rather than kill him. Theyoblige, and march off in happy harmony. From its first performance for children, the orchestral work was a hit. It wassoon performed again in Moscow, gaining traction in groups of all ages. In theend, Peter's bravery as depicted through music became a well-loved story, andcontinues to be played for children across the world to teach them of thewonders of music. Listen to the full production as played by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestrabelow.