Pictures At An Exhibition

It was probably in 1870 and through the highly influential critic )', and 'The Bohatyr Gate (at Kiev , the Ancient Capital)'). Sadly, we cannot in all cases be certain which Hartmann work Mussorgsky was alluding to, because not all the paintings and drawings have survived.

Remarkably, Mussorgsky structures the suite in a manner that actually allows him to represent his own progress through the 'exhibition'. This he does by means of the opening 'Promenade' and the four interludes (only the last of which is also labelled 'Promenade') that are clear variations of its material: "My physiognomy can be seen in the interludes", he wrote in a letter to Stasov. More remarkable still, however, is the fact that by the end of the work the 'Promenade' theme has stopped functioning as a merely 'linking' device and instead started to appear ''within the actual 'pictures' themselves'': the theme features prominently in the movements 'Con mortuis in lingua mortua' and 'The Bohatyr Gate (at Kiev, the Ancient Capital)' - mysterious in one, celebratory in the other.

PUBLICATION HISTORY

As with most of Mussorgsky's works, ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' has a complicated publication history. Although composed very rapidly (between 2nd and 22nd June 1874), the work did not appear in print until 1886 (five years after the composer's death), when an edition by the composer's great friend Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was published. This publication, moreover, was not a completely accurate representation of Mussorgsky's score, but presented an edited and revised text that had been subjected to a certain amount of 'polishing', as well as containing a substantial number of errors and misreadings. Only in 1931 - more than half a century after the work's composition - was ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' published in a musicologically responsible edition in agreement with the composer's manuscript. In 1940 the Italian composer Luigi Dallapiccola published an important critical edition of Mussorgsky's work with extensive commentary. Mussorgsky's hand-written manuscript was published in facsimile in 1975.

ARRANGEMENTS

The first musician to arrange Mussorgsky’s ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' for Orchestra was the little-known Russian composer and conductor Michael Touschmaloff (1861-96). However, his version (first performed in 1891 and possibly produced as early as 1886 when he was a student of Rimsky-Korsakov) does not include the entire suite: only seven of the ten pictures are present (no 'Gnomus', 'Tuileries', or 'Bydlo'), and all the 'Promenades' are omitted except for the last one, which is used in place of the first.

After him, the next orchestration was that undertaken by British conductor Sir Henry Wood in 1915. This too eliminated some of the appearances of the 'Promenade' theme.

The first person to orchestrate the piece in its entirety was the Slovenian-born conductor and violinist Leo Funtek, who finished his version in 1922 while living and working in Finland.

The version by Maurice Ravel (also produced in 1922 , to a commission by Serge Koussevitsky ) is a virtuoso effort by a master colourist, and has proved the most popular in the concert hall and on record. Ravel does, however, omit the fifth and last 'Promenade' movement.

Conductor Leopold Stokowski introduced Ravel's version to Philadelphia audiences in November 1929; he produced his own, very free orchestration (incorporating much that could accurately be called re-composition) ten years later. Stokowski revised his version over the years, and made three gramophone recordings of it (1939, 1941 and 1965). The score was not printed until 1971.

Many other orchestrations and arrangements have been created, and the original piano composition is also frequently performed and recorded. A Brass Ensemble arrangement was made by Elgar Howarth for the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble in the 1970s . There is even an adaption for solo guitar by Kazuhito Yamashita .

There have also been several very different non-classical interpretations: one incorporating Progressive Rock , Jazz and Folk Music elements by the British trio Emerson, Lake And Palmer (1971; see Pictures At An Exhibition (album) ), and an Electronic Music adaptation by Isao Tomita (1975). A heavy metal arrangement made by German band ''Mekong Delta'' also exists. Death Cab For Cutie has also released a track of the same title. In 2003, guitarist-composer Trevor Rabin released his electric guitar adaptation of "Promenade," once intended for the Yes album Big Generator , but included with his demo album 90124 .

Orchestral Arrangements

An attempt at a complete listing of orchestral arrangements of ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' is made here:

# Michael Touschmaloff (?1886; 3 'Pictures' and 4 'Promenades' omitted);
# Rimsky-Korsakov
# Henry Wood (1915; 4 'Promenades' omitted);
# Leo Funtek (1922);
# Maurice Ravel (1922; ' V ' omitted);
# Giuseppe Becce (1922; for 'Salon-Orchestra');
# Leonidas Leonardi (1924);
# Lucien Cailliet (1937);
# Leopold Stokowski (1938; 'Tuileries' and 'Limoges' omitted);
# Walter Goehr (1942; includes a subsidiary part for piano);
# Sergei Gortschakow (1954);
# Lawrence Leonard (1977; for Piano and Orchestra);
# Vladimir Ashkenazy (1982);
# Thomas Wilbrandt (1992);
# Mekong Delta (for group and Orchestra; 1997);

Non-Orchestral Arrangements

An attempt at a complete listing of non-orchestral arrangements of ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' is made here:

# Giuseppe Becce (Piano Trio; 1930);
# Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer (Rock-Group; 1971);
# Isao Tomita (Synthesizer; 1975);
# Oskar Gottlieb Blarr (Organ; 1976);
# Elgar Howarth (Brass Ensemble; 1979);
# Wallisch (2 Guitars; 1970s);
# Arthur Willis (Organ; 1970s);
# Günther Kaunzinger (Organ; 1980);
# Elgar Howarth (Brass Band; 1981);
# Kazuhito Yamashita (Guitar; 1981);
# Reginald Haché (2 Pianos; 1982);
# Jean Guillou (Organ; 1980s);
# Wilhelm Plate (44 Pianists and 44 Grand Pianos and One 'Prepared Piano'; 1993);
# Elmar Rothe (3 Guitars; 1995);
# Mekong Delta (metal version; 1997);
# Joachim Linckelmann (wind quintet; c1999);

Dance of the Tumblers (Rimsky-Korsakov)--- Lezghinka (from the ballet 'Gayaneh') (Khachaturian)--- Lullaby --- Hut of Baba-Yaga (Mussorgsky)--- and Great Gate of Kiev (Mussorgsky)

MOVEMENTS OF THE SUITE

The order of movements in ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' is as follows:

Promenade ( French ). B flat major. In this piece Mussorgsky depicts himself entering the exhibition and walking through the gallery to the first exhibit. It has simple, strong rhythms, but a changing meter. Ravel's arrangement uses a ceremonial solo trumpet and brass chorale.

Gnomus ( Latin , ''(the) Gnome''). e flat minor. This piece is based on Hartmann's design sketch of a toy nutcracker shaped like "a little gnome walking awkwardly on deformed legs". It is in 3/4 time.

Promenade 2. A flat major. The promenade theme, illustrating the viewer walking from work to work. Ravel's arrangement uses a solo horn alternating with a woodwind.

Il vecchio castello ( Italian , ''The Old Castle''). g sharp minor. This piece is based on Hartmann's painting of a troubadour singing in front of a castle. Ravel's arrangement uses an alto saxophone for the melody (presumably representing the troubador) over a drone ostinato. The time signature is 6/8.

Promenade 3. B major. Extremely short (8 measures).

Tuileries (Dispute d'enfants après jeux) (French, ''Tuileries (Dispute between Children at Play)''). B major. Hartmann originally pictured an empty garden near the Louvre in Paris, France. Mussorgsky musically added children chattering and playing in the garden.

Bydło ( Polish , ''Cattle''). g sharp minor. This was probably a drawing of a Polish oxcart. Ravel represents the bulk of the oxcart using a solo Tuba (euphonium is often used because of the range of the solo). It is in 2/4 time.

Promenade 4. d minor.

Balet nevylupivshikhsya ptentsov ( Russian , ''Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks''). F major. This is based on Hartmann's costume design sketches for the ballet Trilbi; the chicks are canaries. The time signature is 2/4.

"Samuel" Goldenberg und "Schmuÿle" ( intervals approximate Jewish modes such as Ahava Rabbah (Freygish).

Promenade 5. B flat major. This is in the original, but many arrangements including Ravel's arrangement omit it.

Limoges, le marché (La grande nouvelle) (French, ''The Market at Limoges (The Great News)''). E flat major. Limoges is a city in central France. Musically this piece represents a bustling market place. Time signature is 4/4.

Catacombae (Sepulcrum Romanum) (Latin, ''The Catacombs''). b minor. Hartmann pictured himself in the subterranean tombs of Paris. In 3/4 time.

Con {Link without Title} mortuis in lingua mortua (Latin, ''With the Dead in a Dead Language''). b minor. In his manuscript, Mussorgsky states that, "The creative spirit of the dead Hartmann leads me towards the skulls, calls to them - the skulls quietly begin to shine". The time signature of this section is 6/4. Mussorgsky's Latin is faulty, using "con" to mean with instead of the correct "cum."

Izbushka na kur'ikh nozhkakh (Baba-Yaga) (Russian, ''The Hut on Hen's Legs (Baba Yaga)''). A minor(?). This is based on a drawing of an elaborately carved clock representing the hut of Baba Yaga (a witch in old Russian legends). This piece is probably the most demanding of the set with a 64th note tremolo in the middle of the piece that last approximately 45 seconds. The meter is 2/4.

Bogatyrskie vorota (vo stol'nom gorode vo Kieve) (Russian, ''The Knight's Gate (in the Ancient Capital, Kiev)''). E flat major. Another translation of this name is "The Great Gate of Kiev". This is based on sketches Hartmann made for a planned (but never built) monumental gate for Tsar Alexander II . This gate was to have commemorated Tsar Alexander II's narrow escape from an assassination attempt on 1866 - 04-04 . Victor Hartmann felt that his design for The Great Gate of Kiev was the finest work he had yet done, and it won the competition for the gate's design. It is likely that the project's cancellation deeply disappointed Hartmann.

TRIVIA

An excerpt of the piece was used as part of the score in several episodes of the Warner Bros. animated television series Animaniacs .

The 'Promenade' theme was the theme tune of the British political sit-com The New Statesman.

Promenade theme was used in audio-visual mode in ''self test'' software of 8-bit Atari computers (''self test'' is built in ROM of the computer).

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Pictures At An Exhibition