Introducing Composer Study: Prokofiev & Peter and the Wolf

Over the past few months I’ve fallen off the consistently-listen-to-classical-music wagon. This isn’t because I don’t have a plethora of organized resources already available to me. It’s just because I haven’t made it a priority. But… our children enjoy listening to classical music, so all I really need to do is play some classical music. I just make things too complicated.

In fact, what I’m sharing now is too complicated, but since this was the catalyst that first started our children’s appreciation of classical music and orchestra, I decided to pull out a family favorite, Peter and the Wolf. Because I wanted to include some composer study, we read about Prokofiev in Lives of the Musicians: Good Times, Bad Times (and What the Neighbors Thought) and created a composer page to hang on the wall as we listen to various pieces by Prokofiev over the next month. (There’s also a free e-book on Project Gutenberg called The World’s Great Men of Music: Story-Lives of Master Musicians by Harriette Brower, although it does not include information on Prokofiev.)

–> Download Prokofiev Composer Sheet here. <—

Then… we listened to Peter and the Wolf. [Listen to Streaming Audio or download mp3 by right-clicking and saving to your computer (51.3 MB).]

After listening to the audio, we later watched Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Peter and the Wolf. This was so great!

(We also got sidetracked and watched a snippet of the Imperial March from Star Wars, where the conductor was using a toy light saber as a baton. Nothing like a little humor to make it even more engaging for our boys!)

In the past we’ve enjoyed watching the Disney’s 1946 Animated Version of Peter and the Wolf, but I’ve since found that it’s a violation of copyright to have those videos on youtube. In keeping with our goal to honor copyright as much as possible, I’m avoiding linking to such videos.  But Peter and the Wolf is included on the Disney’s Make Mine Music DVD.

Due to the familiarity of this piece, we didn’t pursue other activities.  But… for those wishing to camp out with Peter and the Wolf for a while before listening to other music…

We will continue listening to Prokofiev’s various compositions over the next month…  His work includes film scores, ballets, symphonies, and operas.

Music by Prokofiev – download or listen via streaming audio

Prokofiev on Pandora
Cinderella
Romeo and Juliet
Piano Concerto No. 1 in D-Flat Major
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C
Violin Concerto No. 2 in G Minor
Classical Symphony in D Major
Lieutenant Kije Suite
Alexander Nevsky
Love for Three Oranges Suite
The Genius of Prokofiev – Romeo & Juliet, Lt. Kije, and Alexander Nevsky

Lately, we’ve been listening to the classical music when we’re making or eating lunch. Mostly we talk about what the music sounds like (what emotions or imagery it evokes), and point out different musical instruments we hear. We also talk a bit about the vocabulary we’ve been introduced to in past composer and music theory studies (e.g., crescendo). [Note:  This informal analysis is easy to do when in the midst of preparing lunch.]

For some of the these works, we may use listening maps we’ve found on-line, but we’ll most likely just use the Music Appreciation Log Sheet at Practical Pages (or we’ll just draw on blank sheets of paper).

Listening Maps
Listening Map for Cinderella – Waltz & Midnight (Upper Grammar)
Listening Guide for Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony in D Major (Upper Grammar+)
Listening Guide of Alexander Nevsky, 7th movement (Upper Grammar+)

More about Sergei Prokofiev

More about Prokofiev on PBS
Classics for Kids – Prokofiev

Where we’re going from here… 
(aka, the plan which sometimes falls by the wayside)

During December, in light of the holidays, we are planning to once again study Tchaikovsky and the Nutcracker Suite.