The Year 1941 (Prokofiev) The Year 1941 (Prokofiev) Sergei Prokofiev wrote the symphonic suite The Year 1941 (Op. 90) in 1941. Prokofiev, along with other composers, was evacuated to the Caucasus when Germany started attacking the Soviet Union in 1941. It was under such circumstances that Prokofiev began work on this symphonic suite. He was working on his epic opera "War and Peace" and the "String Quartet No. 2" at the same time. The whole suite lasts for around 15 minutes. The suite is scored for 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets,
Wolf Tracks and Peter and the Wolf Peter's grandson, also named Peter, hears his grandfather describe his encounter with the wolf, and decides that he too should track and hunt down a wolf just as his grandfather did. His grandfather protests, saying that wolves should be left alone, because, "with their forests nearly gone, they've become hungry, desperate animals," but Peter ignores his grandfather's advice and goes off into the woods. There, Peter sees "a thin gray Wolf", out to find prey for his family, then chases it and captures it. Peter then hears the wolf's whimpering, and sees "the slate-blue beauty of his captive's eyes", and