Original orchestration: flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, 3 horns, trumpet, trombone, timpani, 2 percussionists (cymbals, triangle, castanets, bass drum, snare drum, tambourine), and strings.

Sergei (Sergeyevich) Prokofiev (was 20th century Russian (and Soviet) composer who wrote in a wide range of musical genres, including symphonies, concerti, film music, operas, ballets, and program pieces. Nowhere in his works does Prokofiev speak to us so freely and happily as in Peter and the Wolf, Op.67. Prokofiev subscribed to the Soviet philosophy that music should belong to everyone in society, and, like his contemporaries Kabalevsky and Shostakovich, wrote music specifically for children and young people. Indeed, Prokofiev’s Seventh Symphony was originally written for an audience of children, but easily his most popular and successful work in this genre is the "Symphonic Tale" Peter and the Wolf, first performed in 1936. The story of Peter is wonderfully easy to follow and needs little explanation – remember to listen out for Peter (the strings-or woodwind together in our case), his friends the Bird (flute), the Duck (oboe), the Cat (clarinet), the Hunters (drums), Peter’s Grandfather (bassoon) and of course the Wolf (horn-along with clarinet and bassoon). -R. G. Bratby