Pictures at an Exhibition - Mussorgsky

Pictures at an Exhibition was composed by the Russian Nationalist composer Modeste Mussorgsky in 1874. It was originally written for piano, but it has been arranged dozens of times for orchestras and other smaller ensembles. The one we will hear has been arranged by Maurice Ravel.

This work was written in memory of Mussogsky's artist friend Viktor Hartmann.
It is a musical depiction of Mussorgy's experience of walking through Hartmann's posthumous art exhibit.

Besides creating original "soundtracks" to each painting, Mussorgsky also wrote numerous "Promenades" as interludes between many of the movements to symbolize his own impressions walking between the paintings.

The video we will watch in class is available to view online for free on the Naxos Video site. It is of the Berlin Philharmonic, one of the finest orchestras in the world, conducted by Simon Rattle. It is from a DVD of a live concert with several other works on it. You should be able to select the "Chapters" tab and jump to Pictures at an Exhibtion, which runs from 0'50" to 1'23". Not only is it an outstanding recording with brilliant playing, but the video is of very high quality with excellent close-ups of all of the instruments.

If you are accessing this link on an off-campus computer, you will need to sign in by proxy using your HawkID and password.

Some Connections and Directions:

• Nationalism
• Art History 
• Folk Culture
• Russian History 

At the University of Indiana, Professor David Ward-Steinman teaches a course called "Connections: Music-Art-Poetry" Check out the images from Hartmann's original exhibition. (Link located near the bottom of the left sidebar)

Embedded below is unique interpretation of this work, using animation and the music as social commentary. It's a pretty clever use of the music.