2017年CRI Chinese Kids Learn Symphony from Peter and the Wolf

Chinese Kids Learn Symphony from Peter and the Wolf

Peter and the Wolf, a symphonic fairy tale for children, recently came to Beijing.

The Beijing Concert Hall arranged a concert that culminated¹ with a performance of the famous piece by the renowned² Russian musician S. Prokofiev.

The Peter and the Wolf concert also serves as the opener for a series of concerts titled "2017 Gateway³ to Music". The series will run throughout the summer holidays.

Xu Fei has the story.

00:00/04:30

Fan Tao is the conductor of the Peter and the Wolf concert. Though there are other melodies in the program list, Fan thinks Peter and the Wolf is the centerpiece of the concert.

"Peter and the Wolf is an indispensable piece when introducing classical music to children. Its composer adopts different instruments to represent various animal characters. So, children get to know the tones of certain types of musical instruments in the symphony hall through an interesting story. Music can describe the different characters."

The concert is not only for the ears but is also a feast for the eyes.

A big LED screen was installed on the stage, simultaneously⁴ interpreting the music via animation⁵.

Hence, young audiences can clearly feel what happens and better understand the plot while still listening to the music.

Chen Xun is the principal flute⁶ in the orchestra. His flute represents the bird.

"So the bird, as we know, is very lively. She is Peter's friend. And in the story, she helps peter to catch the wolf. So I have to play at the beginning…I have to play the bird…just like singing in the tree. So it is very happy. The music sounds like "blubby blablablabla…very fast."

Peter, a young pioneer, lives at his grandfather's home in a forest clearing. One day, a big, grey wolf approaches Peter's home. The cat quickly climbs into a tree, but the duck that has jumped out of the pond, is swallowed by the wolf.

Peter, however, fetches a rope and climbs the tree. He asks the bird to fly around the wolf's head to distract it, while he lowers a noose⁷ and catches the wolf by its tail. The wolf struggles to get free, but Peter ties the rope to the tree and the noose gets tighter and tighter.

There are many other animal characters represented by various types of music, as Chen Xun explains:

"So in this symphony, children can listen to different instruments representing different characters. Oboe is a duck. Clarinet is a cat. Bassoon is representing the grandfather. The horns, the horn section, are representing the wolf. So when the children listen to this music, they can know what instrument sounds like and they can get into the story. And when they go home to listen to other symphonies, maybe they can know what instrument (it is). Maybe they say 'Oh I have listened to this instrument in Peter and the Wolf."

The Beijing Concert Hall was recently crowded with Chinese parents and children waiting to appreciate this symphonic fairy tale.

Prokofiev composed this symphony in 1936. It came to China in 2009 thanks to the late Italian conductor Claudio Abbado.

Talking about his anticipation⁸ for the concert, Fan Tao reckons it would open a gateway to classic music for kids.

"For some children, perhaps it is their first time coming to a concert hall. We want to give them a good memory, enabling them to have a deeper understanding of classical music. Perhaps children who come for the first time will begin to love classical music after watching our performances."

Fan Tao also disclosed that since the target audience members are mainly children, each piece of music they've chosen for this concert is not too long, but has a distinctive⁹ tone, beat and rhythm.

According to the conductor, there will be more than 40 concerts taking place at the concert hall in July and August, with one especially for children aged¹⁰ under 5.

Their aim is simple, to arouse young Chinese audiences' passion for classical music.

1 culminated   

v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• a gun battle which culminated in the death of two police officers 一场造成两名警察死亡的枪战
• The gala culminated in a firework display. 晚会以大放烟火告终。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

3 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

4 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

5 animation   

n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作

参考例句：

• They are full of animation as they talked about their childhood.当他们谈及童年的往事时都非常兴奋。
• The animation of China made a great progress.中国的卡通片制作取得很大发展。

6 flute   

n.长笛；v.吹笛

参考例句：

• He took out his flute, and blew at it.他拿出笛子吹了起来。
• There is an extensive repertoire of music written for the flute.有很多供长笛演奏的曲目。

7 noose   

n.绳套，绞索（刑）；v.用套索捉；使落入圈套；处以绞刑

参考例句：

• They tied a noose round her neck.他们在她脖子上系了一个活扣。
• A hangman's noose had already been placed around his neck.一个绞刑的绳圈已经套在他的脖子上。

8 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

9 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

10 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。