Peter and the Wolf
St Andrew Blackadder Church, North Berwick, 21/2/2026
Quorum Arts Collective, James Naughtie, narrator
The audience fills the sizeable church for this performance of four short pieces from 20th century USA, Russia, UK and France, all to some degree humorous and graphic, the instruments imitating such things as drunken behaviour or animal voices.
Clarinettist Sally Day opens it, posing a model dalmatian atop the piano for Gershwin’s ‘Walking the Dog’ from the 1937 film, ‘Shall We Dance’. It’s a witty piece, the clarinet with an engaging jazzy style strolling, exploring, while the string quintet support in more classical style, with occasional “barks”. All fun for players and audience alike.
Then the main course, Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf’. James Naughtie enters and introduces the solo instruments and their characters in the story; the flute-like Bird, the oboist’s Duck, the clarinettist’s Cat, the horn’s Wolf, the bassoon’s Grandfather and the tympany’s Hunters. A smiling string quintet brings us the carefree young lad Peter. To remind us of whom they represent, each wind musician wears a hat or wig – a colourful touch introduced for the earlier matinee, which was aimed at children. They kept the headgear for our evening performance and when afterwards, presenter Maureen Morrison asked whether that had been the right decision, there was resounding spontaneous applause!
The story is pretty trivial. The Wolf chases after the various creatures, swallows the Duck, which for some reason can’t fly, then is caught himself by Peter with help from the Bird. A band of Hunters appears, are persuaded not to shoot the poor thing but take it off to the zoo. Being pro-Wolf myself, I was much relieved. Even the Duck seems to survive to quack from inside the Wolf’s stomach. But the inventiveness of Prokofiev’s music creates surprising dramatic tension, and Quorum Arts embraced it.
Prokofiev is one of the few really popular ‘classical’ composers, even among people who don’t recognise his name. His music is behind films with stars as diverse as Woody Allen and Alec Guinness. His ‘Montagues & Capulets’ accompanies the UK’s ‘Apprentice’ and other dramatic entrances.
Narrator James Naughtie spent 21 years as the voice of the BBC’s ‘Today Programme’. He presented ‘The Proms.’ He appeared as himself in ‘Mr Bates v the Post Office’ and several other films. His weel-kent voice is perfect for this role. He stays in close touch with the conductor throughout and wisely keeps it low-key, allowing the music to shine.
Renata Sokolovska
In the interval, I chat with a musician in bright pink top and plumaged headwear: flautist Renate Sokolovska. Her husband George Stevenson joins us; he’s a composer currently writing for the LPO. They live near Dalkeith. Around us there’s talk of East Lothian becoming a major centre for the arts.
The second half begins with Malcolm Arnold’s 1943 instrumental: ‘Sea Shanties for Wind Quintet’. This feels like more serious music until you discern the tunes of the drunken sailor and other unruly naval persons. Again there’s humour in the music and the way it’s played, passing between instruments for a woozy sensation of uncertain sea-legs.
Finally, an item by Poulenc. The title already suggests this is different from the other pieces, called simply ‘Sextet for Wind & Piano’, whereas the others indicated human interest. Though almost a century old, this is “modern music”; to my naive ear it seems random ruckus. We’re told that Poulenc had a sense of humour but it’s hard to discern. There’s an occasional slow phrase where a melody emerges, but it’s soon tossed away. Who is this music really for? My thoughts drift off into the break-up of Western civilisation, intelligentsia versus hoi polloi. However, my companion found engagement throughout the second act, thanks to the gentle coaching from ‘Peter and the Wolf’, which enhanced her awareness of the individual instruments. Applause at the end is enthusiastic, but I think it’s not for this piece; it’s for the skill of the sextet and for the evening as a whole, which was indeed first class.
This was the launch of The Quorum Arts Collective, founded by retired SCO cellist Maureen Morrison and violinist Mary Miller. Their aim is to give opportunities to local musicians. The road is opening to East Lothian’s becoming a major arts centre.
