"Peter and the Wolf"
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Since the ECHO (European Cities of Historical Organs) foundation, education and information about historical organs for the new generatons play an important role.
The uniqueness of historical organs makes them representatives of European musical heritage.
The organs in the European cities must be open to the public and mainly must approval children in combination with the schools and the organ-players.
The production of Peter and the Wolf is for ECHO a new moment to communicate with children in a contemporary way.
The combination of telling the fairy tale and listening to the organ music can produce a fantastic result.
I wish all children, their parents, friends and grandparents much pleasure with this new CD.
Wim van der Ham
Chairman of ECHO
Sergej Prokofiev
(1891 - 1953)
Peter and the Wolf
op. 67 (1936)
Transcription for Organ Duet by
Roberto Antonello
The CD of "Peter and the Wolf ' can be ordered online >>>>>
The Organists
Roberto Antonello & Maurizio Croci
The Organ
The Eugène Puget Organ (1888)
of the Notre-Dame de la Dalbade Church in Toulouse (France)
In this organ transcription, the orchestral instruments playing the themes atached to the single characters are substituted by different organ stops, portraying the imitative possibilities of the "king of the instruments".
| Characters | Orchestral instruments | Organ stops | |
| Peter | Strings | Foundations, flue pipes, string tone colour | |
| Bird | Flute | Flutes of different size | |
| Duck | Oboe | Oboe | |
| Cat | Clarinet | Clarinet | |
| Grandfather | Bassoon | Bombard | |
| Wolf | Horns | Reed or free reed stops | |
| Hunters | Timpani | Clusters in the pedal |
Peter and the wolf
(Text and music: S. Prokofiev. English translation: W. Blok, 1961)
Early one morning Peter opened the gate and went out on a big green meadow.
On the branch of a big tree sat a litlle bird, Peter’s friend. "All is quit", chirped the bird gaily.
Soon a duck came waddling around. She was glad that Peter had not closed the gate, and decided to take a nice swim in the deep pond in the meadow.
Seeing the duck, the litle bird flew down upon the grass, seteled next to the duck and shrugged her shoulders… "What kind of bird are you, if you can’t fly!" said she. To this the duck replied: "What kind of bird are you, if you can’t swim!" and dived into the pond.
They argued and argued – the duck swimming in the pond, the litlle bird hopping along the shore.
Suddenly something caught Peter’s atention. He noticed a cat crawling through the grass.
The cat thought: "The bird is busy arguing? I’ll just grab her." Stealthily she crept toward her on her velvet paws.
"Look out!" shouted Peter, and the bird immediately flew up into the tree.
From the middle of the pond... the duck quacked angrily at the cat.
The cat crawled around the tree and thought: "Is it worth climbing up so high? By the time I get there, the bird will have flown away".
Grandfather came out. He was angry because Peter had gone to the meadow. "It is a dangerous place. If a wolf should come out of the forest, then what would you do?"
Peter paid no atention to grandfather’s words. Boys, as he, are not afraid of wolves.
But grandfather took Peter by the hand, led him home and locked the gate.
No sooner had Peter gone, that a big grey wolf came out of the forest.
In a twinkling, the cat climbed up the tree.
The duck quacked, and in her excitement jumped out of the pond.
But no matter how hard the duck tried to run, she couldn’t escape the wolf.
He was getting nearer… nearer… catching up with her… and then he’s got her, and with one gulp swallowed her.
And now, this is how things stood: 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 them with greedy eyes.
In the meantime, Peter, without the slightest fear, stood behind the closed gate watching all that was going on.
He ran home, took a strong rope and climbed up the high stonewall…
One of the branches of the tree around which the wolf was walking, stretched out over the wall.
Grabbing hold of the branch, Peter lightly climbed over on to the tree.
Peter said to the bird: "Fly down and circle around the wolf’s head, only take care that he doesn’t catch you.
The bird almost touched the wolf’s head with her wings while the wolf snapped angrily at her from this side and that.
"How the bird did worry the wolf! How he wanted to catch her! But the bird was cleverer, and the wolf simply couldn’t do anything about it.
Meanwhile, Peter made a lasso and carefully letting it down...
… caught the wolf by the tail and pulled with all his might.
Feeling himself caught, the wolf began to jump wildly trying to get loose.
But Peter ed the other end of the rope to the tree... and the wolf’s jumping only made the rope around his tail tighter.
Just then...
… the hunters came out of the woods,
… following the wolf’s trail and shooting as they went.
But Peter sitting in the tree, cried: "Don’t shoot! Birdie and I have already caught the wolf! Now help us take him to the zoo."
And there...
… imagine the triumphant procession:… Peter at the head,…
… after him the hunters leading the wolf...
… and winding up the procession, grandfather and the cat. Grand father tossed his head, discontentedly: "Well, and if Peter hadn’t caught the wolf? What then?"
Above them flew Birdie chirping merrily: "My, what fine ones we are, Peter and I! Look, what we have caught!"
And if one would listen very carefully, he could hear the duck quacking in the wolf’s belly, because the wolf in his hurry had swallowed her alive.
