 The Pan Flute by Teresa Martin--@Teresa__Martin The Once episode “Nasty Habits” featured the story of the Pied Piper with Peter Pan being the man who used “unholy music” to lure children into becoming Lost Boys. This inspired admiration among the fandom for the haunting tune by Mark Isham. Talk also erupted of the featured wind instrument, the pan flute, and inspired a deeper look at the rich history behind its deceptively simple setup. As a wind instrument, the pan flute developed later than the percussion instruments which are associated with the eldest of humanity’s ancestors. More ancient because the making and playing of them is more natural to the human instinct—hitting an object against another--and simple. The winds were not far behind, also being somewhat natural, as they are played by blowing through a tube. They likely developed when people blew into bamboo sticks and learned to pitch them by length. There is no particular place where the pan flute developed; rather it is recorded as being found from archaeological works dated as early as the Neanderthals, to the written works of antiquity all over the world. These were made from natural materials, in particular hollow wood. Reeds were also made into pan flutes hence leading to the reason the instrument got its name from the Greek god Pan (White). 
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By Lori J. Fitzgerald J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan, first performed on stage in 1904 and later novelized in 1911, is a classic of children's literature. It's famous setting, Neverland, is a treasure map filled with adventures and fanciful characters of a child's imagination: secret hideaways, fights with pirates, daring rescues of Indian princesses, mermaids in lagoons, flights through the air, a boy who never grows up. However, upon reading Peter Pan as an adult, Neverland and its denizens take on a darker atmosphere in the older and wiser mind. Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis often said they based their portrayal of Peter Pan as a twisted character on the question, "What type of person would refuse to grow up?" Once Upon a Time's version of Peter Pan and Neverland take on the exact sinister atmosphere that an adult reader senses lurking underneath the whimsical plot of Barrie's book.  |
