Peter and the Wolf

Peter and the Wolf is an orchestral suite by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953).  Prokofiev was a pianist and a composer -- he wrote an opera and wrote pieces for the piano before the age of nine.  He was from Ukraine and he traveled to Europe and the United States. In 1936, he wrote Peter and the Wolf for a children's theater in the Soviet Union.

It's a story about a boy who lives with his grandfather.  The boy, Peter, is represented by the string section of the orchestr (notice the melody of the piece).  The grandfather is represented bythe bassoon . The flutes represent the bird, while the duck is depicted by the oboe.  Prokofiev wrote the clarinet to represent the cat and the wolf by the horn section.  Finally, the hunters are represented by the kettle drums.  Peter is told by his grandfather to not go out and look for the wolf, and so of course, Peter goes out and tries to capture the wolf While he tries, his friends the bird and the duck aren't so lucky in the situation because they seem to make a good dinner for the wolf.  However, in this interpretation of the story, there is a happy ending and Peter is a hero and the duck survives.  

Peter and the Wolf Part 1

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Peter and the Wolf Part 2
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Some information was gathered from http://www.philtulga.com/Peter.html.

Happy 30th Birthday

So this is me at my recital on my 30th birthday.

I have tried to get the video in but it has not worked yet.

Music Presentation

I organized to have musical instrument presentations in a few of my classes today.
They were pretty successful, and I got to enjoy watching the students explain what they learned in a research project.

I have a few talented students.  Some are shy and recorded themselves play their instruments.  Others actually played their instruments.  And, the rest are going to bring in c.d.s and internet resources over the next few days. 

Did I mention that I played for a few of them?  I'm kinda the only violinist in Juticalpa.  Well, I have a student, and then there's a 10th grader who plays the violin.  There's another violinist in Catacamas, but really, not a whole lot.

After the presentations, I want to get a jam session together for after school.  Actually, I know that I could easily get a few kids to show up even next week if I wanted.  So, I will make this happen and get to know my students a little differently through music and a more relaxed setting.

It's also the beginning of the second partial -- or term.  I have learned a lot and am very eager to implement other classroom ideas.  Plus it's almost Christmas, and I can assign homework: look for Christmas music!!!