The symphonic fairytale
Peter and the Wolf
shares some interesting
similarities to
Darth Vader and the
Lord of the Rings movies.
And it's in the music...
When you think
of the movie Jaws,
what is the first sound
that comes to mind
when the shark appears?
♪ (Low Strings) ♪
Or when James Bond
pulls off an heroic feat,
what do you always hear?
♪ (Guitar Spy Music)♪
If you know these films
or countless others,
you might recall the music
that accompanies them.
This is not random.
In fact, it's one of the most
powerful tools that writers,
filmmakers,
and composers have used
throughout the 20th century
to help convey an idea,
a character,
or a place.
And it's called a Leitmotif.
A Leitmotif is a short,
constantly recurring
musical phrase
that is associated
with a particular person,
idea, or situation.
And these aren’t just for film.
♪♪ (ORGAN MUSIC)♪♪
From Baroque musical
compositions of Bach,
to the symphonies of Mozart,
to contemporary instrumental
music of Philip glass,
repetitive leitmotifs
have been in musical works
for centuries.
♪♪ (piano music)
♪♪♪ (Wagner Opera Music)
While leitmotifs have been
around for a long time,
the 19th century
German composer
Richard Wagner
took leitmotifs
to the next level.
From his Ring cycle
to his epic operas,
his compositions
were among the first
to closely connect
a specific melodic phrase
with individual characters
in a story.
When filmmakers started
putting sound
with images
seen on screen,
the ideas of Wagner
started to move
into the cinematic
landscape as well.
The great Hollywood film
composer, Max Steiner
had a very important rule
when it came to film music:
Every character should have
a theme.
♪♪♪
In the 1930s,
Sergei Prokofiev
began exploring
the leitmotif
in a wide range
of his works.
He was one of Russia’s
most versatile composers.
He melded sounds
from Classical,
Romantic and Modern.
And everything from
the piano sonata
to the film score.
His leitmotifs
can be heard
in things like
Romeo and Juliet
♪♪♪
and Cinderella.
♪♪♪
But then there’s
Peter and the Wolf,
♪♪♪
Peter and the Wolf is
an incredibly famous
piece of music,
that is
originally designed to
be a great story for kids
but also a way of
introducing kids to
the instruments
of the orchestra.
NARRATOR: Prokofiev’s most
famous composition.
Recorded hundreds of times
in a variety
of different languages.
and narrated by
the likes of David Bowie,
Bill Clinton, and Sophia Loren.
My Dear Children,
young and old,
each character of this tale
is represented
by an instrument
in the orchestra.
♪♪♪
If you're
playing Peter's theme,
which is very
innocent and bright
and open,
so you want to play
with that character
and tha feeling.
Or if you're the
Grandpa, it's a very,
like
curmudgeon type
character.
And it's very
gruff
and rough.
So you almost
physically
play that way.
to express
that character.
Just how a dancer
would have their
movements
match the character,
we kind of
move that way too
when you're playing.
♪♪♪
So me, Peter and the Wolf
begins and ends
with the score.
I think it's just a
wonderful experinece
especially for kids.
So the can start to see how
maybe next time they
listen to a piece of Motzart
that doesn't have
quite as obvious
a story line,
but they could maybe
feel something or
tell themselves a story.
You have to learn those skills
but once you do
it opens up this world
of opportunity
where you can hear
a wide variety
of music
that will tell you some
kind of story,
evoke some kind of feeling
I think that it
really trains
your ear
to recognize,
whether it's
things like melody and
theme. Or
rhythm or just tone,
or a cultural
resonance
that a type of music
might have that
that helps you to imagine
or tell some kind of story.
Peter and the Wolf
is a wonderful introduction
to the idea of leitmotifs.
And picking out the violins
or the oboe
and seeing how it
represents different
characters,
opens the doors
to deepening your
understanding
of many other artistic works.
The next time you sit
and listen to a ballet,
an opera,
a film,
or even a video game,
listen for those repeated
themes,
and see if they change
your association
with that work of art.
♪♪♪