Tempo In Mezzo Forte's Peter And The Wolf

In Peter and the Wolf, the main character or message is simply the triumph of good over evil, so it is understandable why the piece has a tempo in Allegro and is in a Major key. Peter is represented as a String and the dynamics at the beginning are in Mezzo Forte and feature small gradual crescendos. Then gets very quiet all at once in Piano then quickly crescendos again. As the piece goes along Peter is introduced to many different “animals” or instruments, such as the Flute from the woodwind family, which represents the Bird. Then came the duck played by the oboe, which featured a melody in Legato and a tempo in moderato. As the duck and bird argue the overall tempo becomes Allegro and the melody features a short period of staccato, until the cat is

Peter asks the bird to circle around the wolf’s head to distract him and the birds theme returns except the tempo is vivace now to represent the chase. When Peter pulls the wolf by his tail we hear a drastic change in dynamics as the dynamic changes to Forte. As the hunters come out of the woods the dynamic starts very soft in piano and gradually crescendos to a louder dynamic at a andante tempo. The tempo and dynamics used here is to display the hunters following the wolf’s trail and eventually finding him. Peter tells the Hunters not to shoot the wolf, but send him to the zoo instead. The other animals and peter celebrate and we hear everyone in unison playing Peters theme joyfully. The piece as a whole has a polyphonic Texture and displays a symphony Orchestra composed of many musical instruments and Families. The musical instruments displayed are: Bassoon, Oboe, Clarinet, Flute, French horn, Cello, Violin, trombone, and percussion instruments, along with the narrator. The overall cheerful nature of this piece is perfectly executed by every aspect such as: the instruments chosen, tempo, dynamic and the key it is