QuintroversyWoodwind Quintet

Presents
Peter and the Wolf

Study Guide
Background information and Activities
 Table of Contents
Pre-performance Questions and Information
Questions
3
Overture
4
Sergei Prokofiev
5
The Characters of Peter and the Wolf
6
The Story
7
Music & Story
8-9
The Instruments
10-13
Post Performance Activities
Finish the Story Writing Activity
15
Flight of the Bumblebee
16
Carnival of the Animals Game
17
Word Search Grade K-3
18
Word Search Grade 3-6
19
Curriculum Connections
20

Written by Shaelyn Archibald and Jessica Tse

Artwork by Mariella Villalobos

2
 Pre-performance
Questions
1. Tell us about a time when you ever been to a live music
performance.

[Link] you like to learn to play an instrument? Which

During thefThPerformance
one? If you’re learning one why did you choose it?
fTh  As you listen to the performance,
think about how the music creates:
3. Name an instrument that you’ve heard being played
• mood,
that reminds you of an animal. What about it reminds • the characters,
• emotions,
you of that animal? • portray events/actions,
•
• all in order to help move the story
[Link] about your favorite movie. Now describe your along.

favorite part of the movie. What are the characters

doing? What does the background music sound like?

5. What ideas, feelings, or thoughts come to mind when

you think of classical music?

3
 Overture
An Overture is an instrumental introduction to an opera. Overtures are used to get your
ears and imagination fired up; they have musical tidbits that give you a taste of what is in
store. The overture that we are playing is one taken from The Magic Flute by one of the
most famous classical composers of all time: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The Story
The Magic Flute is the story about a young prince,
Tamino, who goes on a quest with his best friend,
Papageno the bird catcher, to find the Princess
Pamina. Tamino is told by the Queen of the Night that
Princess Pamina is being held captive by the evil
sorcerer Sarastro.

To aid in the journey, the Queen of the Night gives

the prince a magic flute with the power to change
sadness to happiness. His friend Papageno is given
magic bells with the power of protection. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
When Tamino and Papageno finally reach Sarastro’s
palace, they are surprised to find that the evil sorcerer
Discussion notes:
Sarastro is not evil at all, but was a wise and kind
man. Sarastro has been protecting Princess Pamina Ask the students if they’ve
from the Queen of the Night, who has plans to take heard of Mozart before
over the world. Tamino and Pamina meet, fall in love,
and wish to marry. Ask students if they imagined
any stories while listening
Sarastro puts Tamino and Papageno through three Were the students reminded of
tests to prove themselves. They pass the tests with any colours or emotions while
the powers of the magic flute and magic bells. The listening to the overture?
Queen of the Night, furious about what has happened,
tries to break into Sarastro’s palace, but is sent away
with magic. Tamino and Pamina are able to live
happily ever after in a peaceful land.
4
 The Composer

Sergei Prokofiev
Born in Krasne, Ukraine in 1891, Sergei Prokofiev is considered to be one of the
greatest composers of the twentieth century. His musical compositions cover the
genres of ballet, opera, symphonic, film scores, and children's music. Amongst his
best-known works are the ballets Romeo & Juliet and Cinderella, the Lieutenant Kije
Suite, and Peter and the Wolf.

5
 The Characters
Sasha

Sonya

Peter

Ivan

The Wolf

Grandfather 6
 The Story
Peter and the Wolf

P eter is a young boy who lives with his grandfather in the Russian countryside.
Grandfather’s cottage is surrounded by meadows with a pond that is close to the edge of the
woods.

L ike most children around eight years old, Peter is clever and likes to solve problems by
himself whenever he can. Peter loves to go out into the meadow to visit with his animal
friends.

O ne day he goes into the meadow to see his friend Sasha the Bird. In his hurry, Peter forgets
to shut the gate, and Sonya the Duck decides to waddle over to the pond to have a swim.

S asha sees the duck and, thinking it funny that a bird should swim, starts teasing Sonya.
While the two birds argue, Peter’s cat, Ivan, starts sneaking up to catch the bird. Peter notices
this and warns Sasha, who then flies to safety in a nearby tree.

A t this time Grandfather notices that Peter has left the yard... something Peter is not
allowed to do on his own, because there are wolves in the woods around the cottage! “What if
one were to find you out here?!” Grandfather says while bringing Peter back into the yard and
shutting the gate.

A s soon as the gate is locked, then who should appear....but the wolf! Ivan escapes by
climbing up the tree but poor Sonya is so startled that she flops right out of the pond. The
wolf swallows her in one gulp.

P eter, being very brave, concocts a plan with Sasha to catch the wolf and tie him to the
tree. After successfully capturing the wolf and hanging him up by the tail, some hunters
appear. Peter announces to them that they should take the wolf to the zoo.

T hey all take the wolf there in a grand procession... and if you listen very carefully you can
hear the duck quacking inside the belly of the big, bad wolf.
7
 Music and Story

A musical theme is a recognizable melody. In Peter and the Wolf,

Prokofiev pairs each of the characters with an instrument. The music played by
each instrument has been composed to sound like the character it represents.

Character & Instrument Pairs

Duck & Oboe Wolf & French Horn Grandfather & Bassoon

Cat & Clarinet

Bird & Flute

8
 In the full orchestral rendition of Peter and the Wolf, Peter’s theme is
played by the violins. Since there are no violins in a woodwind quintet,
Peter’s theme is played by the whole quintet.

Flute

Oboe

French Horn

Clairnet

Bassoon

Prokofiev also uses the whole woodwind quintet to play music that sets and portrays the
scenes and events in the story.

9
 fTh

The Woodwind Quintet

Instruments
Woodwind instruments make sound when musicians blow air into
them. For the flute, air is blown over a hole in the headpiece. The air
splits into two different streams; about half of it goes out and half goes
into the flute, causing vibrations. In the case of the French horn, a
musician buzzes their lips in the mouthpiece making the air vibrate. The
other woodwinds have a reed or a double reed attached to the
mouthpiece, which vibrate when air is blown past them. These vibrations
set the air inside all the instruments in motion, creating sound.

Fun Facts!
• the flute takes the most air to
play... more than any of the
other woodwind and brass
instruments
Did you Know?! • 13 of the keys on the bassoon
are played only by the thumbs
The French Horn is a brass • the French horn got its name
instrument! It plays in a from the hunting horn that
woodwind quintet because appeared in France around
it can play just as soft and 1650
delicately as a woodwind. • the clarinet is called a “licorice
stick” in jazz music
• oboists spend hours whittling
their own reeds from a cane
plant called arundo donax... it
looks a lot like bamboo

10
 fTh
The BASSOON is the biggest instrument in the woodwind
family, and therefore it is also the lowest wind instrument. It is
made of wood and played with a reed, and while it does play a
lot of low notes, it has a very large range and can play very
high as well. The bassoon looks large as it is, but if you were to
straighten out all the bends inside it, it would be almost twice
as long - 8 feet long in total. Because an 8 foot long instrument
would be difficult to hold and play, bassoon makers fold the
tube in two.

Although the bassoon can play beautiful melodies and fast

passages, its large size can make such playing quite awkward
so it often plays low, long notes. Composers tend to use the
bassoon to create a funny or interesting characters, like Peter's
cranky old grandpa in Prokofiev’s Peter & the Wolf. The
Grandfather is old, slow, and thoughtful but when he gets mad
he raises his voice. In this piece, the bassoon makes a great
grumpy old man sound!

The FLUTE is both fTh the smallest

and the oldest instrument in the
woodwind family. Now made out of
precious metals like gold and silver,
it used to be made out of wood.
Before that, flutes were made from
animal bones and tusks. These
flutes were used for hunting and
magical [Link] oldest flute ever
found was made from a cave bear’s
thigh bone about 43 000 years ago!

The flute is often used to depict

birds in music because of its
singing sound and its ability to trill
and play very fast. This is the case
in Prokofiev’s Peter & the Wolf.
Birds are quick as a whip and soar
way up in the sky. The flute can
soar way up high, too... way higher
than the other woodwinds!

11
 fTh
The CLARINET is one of the youngest instruments of the
woodwind family. It was first invented around 1700 but did
not become a regular part of the orchestra until the latter
part of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s life. That’s nearly 50
years after it was invented! It is made out of wood and its
sound is produced with a mouthpiece and reed. The
clarinet is black because it is made out of special wood,
such as mpingo and grenadilla.

Prokofiev chose to have the clarinet represent the

character of the cat in the story, Peter and the Wolf. Cats
can be very sneaky when they walk on their velvet paws.
The clarinet can be very sneaky, too, because it can play
so quietly. Cats also like to climb up high, and the clarinet
has a range of over three octaves: that’s high enough to
go up a tree!

The OBOE is one of the double reed instruments

fTh in the woodwind family. That
means that the mouthpiece is made up of two small reeds tied together. When air
is blown into the oboe, the two reeds vibrate to make the characteristic reedy
sound. The oboe has the smallest range of all of the instruments, but don’t worry:
what the oboe lacks in range it makes up for with power. It can be heard above the
entire orchestra. This is why the oboe has the job of giving the tuning note to the
orchestra before a concert.

An oboist can play for a really long time without breathing because the opening of
the reed is so small. That is one of the reasons why many composers write long
beautiful melodies for the oboist to play. The oboe portrays many different
characters and emotions in music because it can make lots of different sounds.
Sometimes an oboe can sound dark and smooth and sometimes an oboe can
sound bright and shrill. Some people would even describe an oboe as sounding
honky - just like a duck! Perhaps that is why Prokofiev chose the sound of the
oboe to play the duck in Peter and the Wolf.

12
 fTh
The FRENCH HORN is a brass instrument that was originally used by hunters,
who often played while riding on a horse. It was first used in an orchestra in the
1600s, and was eventually added to all kinds of ensembles. The player buzzes
their lips and blows through the tubing, which, if unravelled, would be over 12
feet long! Before the invention of valves in the 1800s, the player had only a
limited number of notes they could play, and so used their right hand inside the
bell to change the notes. Since the invention of valves, the hand is still placed in
the bell and used for special effects, such as making the sound very loud, very
soft, harsh & blaring, or mellow & smooth.

In Peter and the Wolf, the horn plays the role of the wolf. Prokofiev has used
notes in the lower range of the horn to sound darker and more menacing, like a
hungry wolf. The sound starts quietly, and gets louder and louder as the wolf
comes out of the woods and into Peter’s full view. It can be little scary! In the
orchestra, there are three horns that play the wolf theme together. Since there is
only one horn in a woodwind quintet, the bassoon and the clarinet play low
notes along with the horn.

13
 fTh

Post-Concert
Questions
1. In today’s performance, Peter’s musical theme is played by the whole woodwind quintet. If
you had to pick only one instrument to portray Peter, which would you choose and why? *It
can be any musical instrument you know of!*

2. Which characters melody was your favourite? What does the melody for that character tell
you about their personality?

3. If you were Peter, would you go into the meadow? Why or why not?
4. Choose two musical instruments you heard at the concert and compare their appearance
and their sound to each other.

5. Unfortunately, in the story the duck gets swallowed by the wolf. Do you think all of the
animals could work together to capture the wolf and keep everyone safe without Peter?
How?

[Link] bassoon played Peter’s grandfathers theme because of its low, gruff, and slow moving
sound. What other musical instrument do you think could be used to play the theme for
Peter’s grandfather?

7. Is there a song or piece of music that you would choose to be your own theme song?

fTh

14
 Finish the Story

Our part of the musical story ends with the parade on the way to the zoo... but what
happens on the way? Prokofiev leaves the story open ended, which gives an excellent
opportunity to imagine what will happen next. Particularly interesting is the situation between
the wolf and the duck. Will the duck escape from inside the wolf’s stomach? If so, how? Will
something happen to our characters on the way to the zoo?

Activity
Create a story map/sequence of Peter and the Wolf as a class. Have the students
individually write their own ending to Peter and the Wolf and then share their endings with the
class.

15
 Flight
Brass Family
of the
[Link]
watch?v=x5YqXjsJAI0 Bumblebee
Cello • You’ve now learned why Mr. Prokofiev
[Link] picked each instrument for its character.
watch?v=E4q5j8KLOvo Now it’s your turn! Which instrument would
you pick to portray a bumblebee?
• Listen to the different instruments
auditioning to be the bumblebee.
• Discuss as a class each instruments
Clarinet
qualities for being a great bumblebee and
[Link]
have a vote to determine the best
watch?v=RHipTX8y12Y
instrument bumblebee!
• Then listen to the composer’s original
Flight of the Bumblebee. Discuss what you
you like and dislike about this rendition.
Violin
[Link]
watch?v=vtAu7xkwNjQ

Double Bass Piano

[Link] [Link]
watch?v=kLvC1046t7w watch?v=44YyT1IkkL4
Xylophone
[Link]
Guitar
watch?v=nd9xha3vk58
[Link]
watch?v=EyTqu3lnFAk

The original Flight of the Bumblebee by Russian composer

Rimsky-Korsakov and was written for the whole orchestra!
Each instrument family gets to have a BUZZ!
[Link]

16
 Carnival of the Animals
Guess the Animal’s Song Game
As a class, listen to each Mystery Animal’s song from The Carnival of the
Animals by French composer, Camille Saint Saëns. For each song, write down
different adjectives, such as peaceful, regal, ponderous, or what ever the music
reminds you of! Then use the adjectives to help you decide which animal each
song represents! Music is subjective so it is alright if you decided on a different
animal than what the composer had in mind.

Once your class has matched an animal to each song, listen to them again. This
time, have the students move around or pantomime actions like the animal
whose song is playing.

Mystery Animal’s Song

Animals Animal A
[Link]
[Link] March of the Lion v=6jUsX9JwoI0

Animal B.
[Link] & Cockerels [Link]
v=XCBDlC0N8Rc
3. The Cuckoo in the Depths of Animal C.
the Woods [Link]
v=F93GtiYmWlw
[Link] Animal D.
[Link]
5. The Swan v=ug8hCAyBaqg

Animal E.
6. Aquarium [Link]
v=y1PQRu_C5fQ
7. The Aviary Animal F.
[Link]
v=ahbaog7qKt0

Here’s Mr. Saint Saëns’ Finale for his Animal G.

Carnival of the Animals. Watch and see [Link]
v=lEd7Ovt4cWE\
what some Disney animators thought the
music reminded them of!
Composers Answers
1.F 2.G 3.A 4.D 5.C 6.B 7.E
[Link]
17
 18
 19
 f

Curriculum Connections
Music: C1.2, C2.1 , C2.2
Dance: A 1.2
Drama: B2.1

20