• David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev's Peter And The Wolf Rar Files

David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev's 'Peter and the Wolf', a classical music Album by The Philadelphia Orchestra / Eugene Ormandy / David Bowie. Released in February 1992 on RCA Gold Seal (catalog no. GD 60878; CD). David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev's 'Peter and the Wolf', a classical music Album by The Philadelphia. In 1982, David Bowie released In Bertolt Brecht's 'Baal'; four years earlier, the prestigious RCA Red Seal classical label had Bowie narrating Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, and with his stint on Broadway as The Elephant Man, the artist stretched himself brilliantly. There is not enough spoken word by popular recording artists in today's world.

David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf is a classical music album containing David Bowie's narration of Sergei Prokofiev's 1936 composition Peter and the Wolf, as well as Benjamin Britten‘s The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. The music is performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy. The album was released in May 1978 on the RCA Red Seal label.^[2] It reached number 136 on the US Pop Albums chart.^[3]

• 3Track listing
• 5Personnel

Background[edit]

Bowie was RCA's third choice to undertake the narration for Peter and the Wolf behind Alec Guinness and Peter Ustinov, who had both turned the album down.^[4] Bowie has since said that it was a Christmas present for his son, Duncan Jones, then 7 years old.^[4]

Reception[edit]

Stephen Demorest, reviewing the album Rolling Stone at the time of its release, describes Bowie's involvement as 'engaging and benevolent'. Demorest finishes his review by saying Bowie had 'found his most charming guise since Hunky Dory.'^[6] Joe Viglione for AllMusic finds the album as 'charming' and Bowie's performance as 'splendid' and describes the Philadelphia Orchestra's involvement as 'first rate'. He finished by saying it was 'A remarkable and well-crafted project.'^[5]

Track listing[edit]

David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev's Peter And The Wolf Rar Files

Side one[edit]

1. Peter and the Wolf, Op. 67 (Sergei Prokofiev) – 27:08

Side two[edit]

1. Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, opus 34 (Benjamin Britten) – 17:10

Narrated by Hugh Downs, accompanied by the Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by Arthur Fiedler

Release history[edit]

The original 1978 US version of the LP album was pressed on green vinyl and included liner notes insert (RCA Red Seal ARL1-2743). Later issues were pressing in standard black vinyl. A different album cover was used for 1992 US CD release depicting Bowie with wolf ears.^[5]

The album has been reissued a number of times on Compact Disc with varying extra tracks and three album covers. The most recent was released in 2014 by Sony Classical.

Personnel[edit]

Notes[edit]

1. ^David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf at Discogs
2. ^Pegg, Nicholas (2006) [2000]. The Complete David Bowie. London: Reynolds & Hearn. p. 390. ISBN1-905287-15-1
3. ^'Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums'. AllMusic. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
4. ^ ^abSeabrook, Thomas Jermome (2008). Bowie in Berlin: A New Career in a New Town. London: Jawbone Press. p. 197. ISBN978-1-906002-08-4
5. ^ ^abcMiglione, Joe. 'Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf > Review'. AllMusic. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
6. ^ ^abDemorest, Stephen (29 June 1978). 'Various Artists: David Bowie Narrates Peter And The Wolf '. Rolling Stone (268). Retrieved 31 January 2010.

Some of the 20th century’s greatest actors have narrated Sergei Prokofiev’s symphonic story Peter and the Wolf, including Peter Ustinov, Alec Guinness, Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud, Basil Rathbone, Edna Everage, and one of my favorites, Boris Karloff. In 1978, David Bowie joined this illustrious company with his recording of the classic for RCA Victor with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Find part one above. Click links for part two, three, and four. Or purchase a pristine copy online here. Or here it all free on Spotify here:

Bowie begins, as do all of the narrators, with a brief summary of how this symphony works, with different instrumentation representing the various characters (see here for full text of the story and description of themes):

Each character in the tale is going to be represented by a different instrument of the orchestra. For instance, the bird will be played by the flute. (Like this.) Here's the duck, played by the oboe. The cat by the clarinet. The bassoon will represent grandfather. The wolf by the French horns. And Peter by the strings. The blast of the hunters' shotguns played by the kettle drums.

Bowie has said he that he made the recording as a present for his son, Duncan, then 7. Prokofiev, commissioned by the Central Children’s Theatre in Moscow in 1936 to help cultivate the musical tastes of young children, wrote the symphony in four days. As Tim Smith points out in an essay for PBS, Peter and the Wolf has “helped introduce generations of children to the instruments of the orchestra and the concept of telling a story through music.” I know it will be a part of my daughter’s musical education. I'm pretty sure we'll start with Bowie’s version.

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Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Washington, DC. Follow him at @jdmagness