Peter And The Wolf

We had a trio in which all three of us were multi-instrumentalists.
We arranged Prokoviev's famous musical story to fit our personnel.
We performed this version for preschoolers and retired folks,
and played it in settings for a variety of ages in between.

Each character in the story is represented by a different instrument,
and each has his own unique theme music that recurs when appropriate.
We added some simple costume elements—hats, etc.—for each character.

Peter was portrayed by Anita on Soprano Sax (originally played by the string section).
	The Bird was portrayed by Anita on Flute and sometimes by Russell on Flute (as in the original).
The Duck was portrayed by Anita on Oboe (as in the original).
	The Cat was portrayed by Stacy on Clarinet (as in the original).
Grandpapa was portrayed by Russell on Bass (originally played by bassoon).
	The Wolf was portrayed by Russell on Trombone (originally played by three French horns).
The Hunters were portrayed by Stacy on Alto Sax (originally played by a trumpet-led ensemble); the shooting guns were evoked by Russell on Bass (originally played by timpani).

We had a narrator read from an oversized storybook in full view of the audience.
As pieces of the story were read, they were followed by the accompanying music.
Before the story itself, the narrator introduced each character, player & instrument.

Anita as The Duck	Stacy as Hunter #1	Russell as The Wolf	Connie as Narrator

---

---

~ FURTHER READING ~

Here is our version of the narration.
< The titles between angle brackets were not read aloud by the narrator. >
[ Neither were the lead assignments between square brackets. ]

Peter lived with his grandpapa in a small house by a big green meadow. The house was surrounded by a high stone wall. Early one morning, Peter opened the gate and walked out into the meadow.
< 1. PETER’S THEME > [ Anita = Peter ]
Just outside the gate was a big tree. Peter had made friends with a little bird who lived in its branches. Peter seemed to know what it was saying when it chirped. Today the bird was happily saying, "All is peaceful and safe in the big green meadow!"
< 2. BIRD’S THEME > [ Anita = Bird ]
Soon the duck that lived in Grandpapa’s yard came waddling around to the front of the house. She was excited to see that Peter had not closed the gate, because she was curious about the big world outside. She noticed the deep pond in the meadow and decided to take a nice swim.
< 3. DUCK’S THEME > [ Anita = Duck ]
Seeing the duck waddling across the meadow, the little bird flew down onto the grass next to her. He shrugged his shoulders and asked, "What kind of bird are you, if you can't fly?" The duck answered him by asking, "Well, what kind of bird are you, if you can't swim?" Then she dived into the pond, just to show him. They argued and argued, the duck swimming in the pond and the little bird hopping along the shore.
< 4. BIRD & DUCK ARGUE > [ Russ = Bird / Anita = Duck ]
Peter enjoyed listening to the two birds argue, but he wondered if he could explain to them that there are different kinds of birds, some that fly and some that swim. But then, something caught his attention. He noticed a cat crawling through the grass.
< 5. CAT’S THEME > [ Stacy = Cat ]
The cat thought, "That little bird doesn’t even see me, he’s so busy arguing. I could just sneak up on him and grab him.” Doing her best not to make a sound, she crept toward him on her soft paws, slowly getting closer . . . and closer . . . and closer.
< 6. CAT CREEPS UP ON BIRD > [ Anita = Bird / Stacy = Cat ]
Peter could see what was about to happen, and he didn’t want to lose his little friend. He shouted, "Look out! There’s a cat!" The cat tried to pounce on the bird, but the bird quickly flew up into the tree. The duck immediately forgot about her argument with the bird, because now she was angry with the cat. She quacked noisily from the middle of the pond.
< 7. CAT POUNCES BUT BIRD ESCAPES > [ Russ = Bird / Anita = Duck / Stacy = Cat ]
The cat looked up into the tree, disappointed because she was unable to catch the bird, and annoyed with Peter for warning him. The cat crawled around the base of the tree and thought, "I could climb up that tree! But is it worth it? It’s very high!  I think by the time I get to that branch up there, the bird will have flown away!"
< 8. CAT THINKS IT OVER > [ Stacy = Cat ]
Just then Peter’s grandpapa came out of the house. The first thing he saw was that the gate was open. He looked into the meadow and saw the duck swimming in the deep pond. He wondered, “How did that duck open the gate?” That’s when he realized that Peter had also left the yard! He was angry that Peter had gone in the meadow. He shouted, “Peter! Come in right now! The meadow is a dangerous place! What if a wolf came out of the forest? Then what would you do?"
< 9. GRANDFATHER’S THEME > [ Russ = Grandpapa ]
But Peter did not come in. He ignored his grandpapa, pretending not to hear him. But really he was thinking, “A wolf? Boys like me are not afraid of wolves! If a wolf came along, I would just be brave and scare it away! After all, didn’t I save Birdie from being caught by the cat?”
< 10. PETER IGNORES GRANDFATHER > [ Anita = Peter / Russ = Grandpapa ]
So Grandpapa marched right out to the meadow and took Peter by the hand. “I know that you heard me calling you,” he said. “You think you are being brave. Bravery is a good thing, but we must also be careful. You know, a hungry wolf is quick enough and powerful enough to swallow our duck in a single gulp!” He led Peter home and locked the gate.
< 11. GRANDFATHER PREVAILS > [ Russ = Grandpapa ]
Grandpapa got Peter safely home, but he seemed to have forgotten his own words, because he left his duck out in the meadow, swimming in the deep pond without a thought of danger. Peter and Grandpapa had barely set foot inside their gate, when a shadowy figure came out of the forest. It was a big grey wolf!
< 12. WOLF’S THEME > [ Russ = Wolf ]
The cat, who so recently was the hunter, now feared that she was the one being hunted. Instantly, she climbed up into the tree.
< 13. CAT CLIMBS INTO TREE > [ Stacy = Cat ]
The duck, who until today had lived her whole life in Grandpapa’s yard, had never seen an animal as big or as scary as the wolf. She quacked excitedly, and without thinking she jumped up and landed on the shore beside the pond.
< 14. DUCK JUMPS OUT OF WATER > [ Anita = Duck ]
In a panic, the duck tried to run, but of course all she could do was waddle a little faster than usual. The hungry wolf, on the other hand, moved quickly and easily, and he chased the duck into the forest and out of sight. A few seconds later, the wolf reappeared, licking his lips, his face covered with duck feathers.
< 15. DUCK RUNS BUT IS CAUGHT BY WOLF > [ Anita = Duck / Russ = Wolf ]
Meanwhile, back at the big tree, was a very unusual sight. The little bird was still sitting on the tree branch where he had been ever since Peter had warned him that the cat was about to pounce. But now, the cat was sitting on the same branch! Not to catch the bird, but to be safe from the wolf.
< 16. CAT & BIRD SHARE TREE BRANCH > [ Anita = Bird / Stacy = Cat ]
Now, a wolf does not know how to fly like a bird, and a wolf can’t climb a tree like a cat. At least, not usually! But a hungry wolf can be very clever, and this one walked around and around the tree, looking at the branch with greedy eyes and a growling stomach.
< 17. WOLF LOOKS UP GREEDILY > [ Russ = Wolf / Anita = Bird / Stacy = Cat ]
Although Grandpapa had gone back into the house after locking the gate, Peter had stayed in the yard. Through the closed gate, he had seen the arrival of the wolf, how it had outrun the poor duck, and how it now had Birdie and the cat trapped in the tree. Even so, Peter was feeling very brave.
< 18. PETER WATCHES > [ Anita = Peter ]
Suddenly, Peter had an idea! Grandpapa had a tool shed in the yard, and Peter knew that he kept a big strong rope in there. He ran and got it and climbed up the high stone wall. One of the branches of the big tree stretched out over the wall. Grabbing hold of that branch, Peter easily climbed over into the tree.
< 19. PETER CLIMBS INTO TREE > [ Anita = Peter ]
The cat and the bird saw Peter coming toward them on a nearby branch. As he reached the place where they were sitting high above the hungry wolf, they noticed the big rope, and they wondered what the plan was. Peter said to Birdie: "Fly down and circle over the wolf's head. Just be careful that he doesn't catch you!"
< 20. PETER TALKS TO BIRD > [ Anita = Peter / Russ = Bird ]
The bird almost touched the wolf's head with his wings while the wolf snapped angrily at him, from this side and from that side. The bird bothered the wolf so much!  The wolf wanted to catch him so badly! But the bird was more clever, and the wolf simply couldn't do anything about it.
< 21. WOLF TRIES TO GET BIRD > [ Russ = Wolf / Anita = Bird ]
While the bird kept the wolf busy, Peter made a loop in the rope. He tied a special kind of knot in the rope, just as his grandpapa had taught him. It is called a lasso. He lowered it down carefully and caught the wolf by the tail.
< 22. PETER LOWERS LASSO > [ Anita = Peter / Russ = Wolf ]
Peter pulled the rope with all his strength! Feeling himself caught, the wolf thought that some kind of animal had grabbed his tail. But trying to look behind him, he couldn’t see an animal, so he thought, “It can’t be very big! I should be able get loose easily.” He began to jump around wildly trying to get loose.
< 23. WOLF TRIES TO GET LOOSE > [ Russ = Wolf / Anita = Peter ]
But Peter tied the other end of rope to the tree, and the wolf's jumping only made the rope around his tail tighter . . . and tighter.
< 24. WOLF IS CAUGHT > [ Russ = Wolf / Anita = Peter ]
Two hunters had been tracking the wolf all day, but until now, the wolf had managed to stay way ahead of them. Finally, they were about to catch up with him, but little did they know the reason! Just then, they came out of the forest and into the meadow, and they were shooting their big guns.
< 25. HUNTERS’ THEME > [Stacy = Hunter / Russ = Hunter ]
Peter realized that the hunters could easily shoot the wolf, since the rope was holding him so tightly. But he had another idea. He loved going to the zoo, and if this wolf was the new attraction, then Peter could go see the wolf and still be safe. So he called down to the hunters, "Don't shoot! Birdie and I have already caught the wolf! But could you please help us take him to the zoo?"
< 26. PETER CALLS TO HUNTERS > [ Anita = Peter ]
And now, imagine the victory parade as everyone marched off to the zoo: Peter was at the head, leading the way; after him the two hunters had the wolf tied to a pole they carried between them on their shoulders; the cat was next, wondering what a zoo was; and finally was Grandpapa, who shook his head with worry, muttering: "Well, what if Peter hadn't caught the wolf?  What would have happened then?" Above them flew Birdie, chirping proudly as if to say, "My, what brave fellows we are, Peter and I!  Look what we have caught!"
< 27. PROCESSIONAL > [ Anita = Peter / Stacy = Hunter / Russ = Wolf ]
Once the parade had left the meadow on the way to town, a familiar character came slowly out of the forest. I should say, “waddled out of the forest,” because I’m talking about Grandpapa’s duck! Oh, you thought she was eaten by the wolf? Well, it turns out she barely escaped, and all the wolf got was a mouthful of feathers! Now she sat down at the gate, wondering where everybody had gone. . . .
< 28. DUCK’S REQUIEM > [ Anita = Duck ]