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\u2018The duck quacked and, in her excitement, jumped out of the pond,\u2019 gasps David Bowie in his iconic narration of Prokofiev<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Peter and the Wolf<\/i>, recorded in 1977. \u2018But no matter how hard she tried to run, she couldn\u2019t escape.\u2019 (Recent modernisations are more light-hearted: Alexander Armstrong and the London Mozart Players\u2019 2020 lockdown video sees the duck \u2013 a dog\u2019s squeaky toy \u2013 enjoying a cocktail while reading Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Duck<\/i> by one Swan le Carr\u00e9.) Just as the duck could not elude her fate \u2013 swallowed alive, destined to live out her days inside the wolf\u2019s stomach \u2013 nor could the oboe escape an enduring association with its feathery characterisation. Just one example of the many creative ways composers have depicted birds and animals in classical music.<\/p>