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PETER AND THE WOLF by SERGEI PROKOFIEV

We are going to watch a short Disney video about the story of “Peter and the Wolf”. The music

was written by the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. Each character in the story is

represented by a musical instrument.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suSxgzc6HSo Meet the Composer: Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953)

Sergei Prokofiev was born in Russia on April 27th 1891. He began studying the piano with his mother at the age of three. By the age of five Sergei showed unusual musical abilities. His first composition, written down by his mother, was called Indian Gallop. By the age of nine he had written his first opera, The Giant.

At the age of thirteen Sergei entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory and he already had a big portfolio of compositions. When he was at the conservatory he studied with the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

The music that Prokofiev composed was new and different. He brought to his music strange new harmonies, dynamic rhythms and lots of humour.

When the Russian Revolution broke out in 1917, Prokofiev travelled to America where he hoped to compose his music in peace. However, the American audiences were not ready for his new music, so he moved to Paris. In Paris, everyone liked Prokofiev’s operas and ballets.

Prokofiev returned to Russia in 1932 and he spent the last years of his life there. During this time, he produced some of his best works including Peter and the Wolf for chamber orchestra and narrator, and the score for his ballet Romeo and Juliet which contained some of his most inspired music.

Sergei Prokofiev died in 1953 and he is now one of the most admired composers of the twentieth century.

KEY VOCABULARY Find in the text words which have these definitions: 1. The people at a concert, in a cinema or at the theatre=............................................... 2. A small group of musicians who play together=............................................................ 3. A person who writes music=........................................................................................... 4. A place where people study music=............................................................................... 5. A dramatic story with dancing=...................................................................................... 6. A printed musical composition=..................................................................................... 7. A combination of musical notes played at the same time=........................................... 8. A pattern of musical notes in time=...............................................................................

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Peter and the Wolf – The Story

One morning, a young Russian boy named Peter opened his gate and walked out into the big green meadow in front of his house. On a branch of a big tree sat a little bird that was Peter's friend. "All is quiet!" the bird sang. A duck came out. She was happy that Peter had not closed the gate and decided to take a nice swim in the deep pond in the meadow. The little bird saw the duck and flew down upon on the grass. "What kind of bird are you if you can't fly?" said the bird. The duck replied, "What kind of bird are you if you can't swim?" and jumped into the pond. Suddenly, Peter saw something. It was a cat moving through the grass. The cat thought; "That little bird is busy arguing with the duck, I'll catch him while he is busy!” "Look out!" shouted Peter and the little bird flew up into the tree, while the duck quacked at the cat, from the middle of the pond. The cat walked around the tree and thought, "It is too much energy to climb up so high into the tree. By the time I get there the bird will fly away." Just then, Peter’s grandfather came out of their house. He was angry because Peter had gone in the meadow without his permission. "The meadow is a dangerous place! If a wolf came out of the forest, what would you do? It is very dangerous!" But Peter paid no attention to his grandfather. Grandfather took Peter by the hand, locked the gate and took him home. At that moment a big grey wolf came out of the forest. The cat quickly climbed up the tree. The duck quacked, and jumped out of the pond. The wolf was getting closer and closer and then, he grabbed her with his teeth and ate her! And now, this was the situation: the cat was sitting on one branch, the bird on another, not too close to the cat. And the wolf walked around and around the tree, looking at the cat and the bird with very hungry eyes. Peter was behind the closed gate and watched everything that was happening. He ran home, got a strong rope, and climbed up the high wall that divided his garden from the meadow. Peter climbed onto the tree and he said to the bird: "Fly down and circle over the wolf's head. Try to distract him! But, be careful that he doesn't catch you." The bird flew around the wolf and almost touched the wolf's head with his wings while the wolf snapped angrily at him. The wolf was very angry and he wanted to catch the bird! But the bird was clever and very quick, and the wolf couldn't do anything about it. Meanwhile, Peter made a lasso with the rope and carefully let it down from the tree, catching the wolf by the tail. Peter pulled on the rope and the wolf began to jump, trying to get free. But Peter tied the other end of rope to the tree.

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Just then, two hunters came out of the forest, following the wolf and shooting their guns. But Peter, sitting in the tree, said: "Don't shoot! Birdie and I have caught the wolf. Now help us take him to the zoo." Grandfather wasn’t very happy and he said, "Well, what would have happened if Peter hadn't caught the wolf?" And then they saw the duck – what a surprise! The wolf hadn’t eaten the duck, so in the end everybody was happy – in fact, they all lived happily ever after!

########################### Write the Past Simple of these verbs from the text:

INFINITIVE PAST SIMPLE MEANING

Come out

Sing

Have

See

Reply

Think

Fly

Be

Pay

Grab

Eat

Run

Snap

Make

Let

Catch

Story Strips – put the events in the correct order:

1. Peter and the hunters took the wolf to the zoo. …………………… 2. Peter went into the meadow and met a bird. ………………….. 3 .A cat tried to eat the bird. …………………… 4. Peter and the bird met a duck. …………………... 5. Peter’s grandfather got angry with Peter and took him home. ……………………

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6. Peter climbed the stone wall and climbed up the tree. …………………. 7. The wolf came out of the forest and ate the duck. …………………. 8. Peter caught the wolf by the tail with a rope. ………………….. NOW YOU ARE GOING TO TELL THE STORY IN CLASS – WITHOUT LOOKING AT YOUR PHOTOCOPY

In the story each character is represented by a musical instrument. Write the instrument for each character:

1. Peter=................................................................... 2. Sasha=.................................................................. 3. Sonia=................................................................... 4. Ivan=..................................................................... 5. Grandpa=.............................................................. 6. The hunters’ guns=...............................................

Now look at the seating plan of the orchestra and say where each instrument is. What is the word for the person who directs the orchestra? ……………………………………………………….

SERGEI PROKOVIEV

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ORCHESTRA SEATING CHART