Walk with us through a museum with the music of Modest Mussorgsky's suite, "Pictures at an Exhibition"!
Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky wrote "Pictures at an Exhibition" in 1874.
Then, in 1922, French composer Maurice Ravel adapted this suite so that a full orchestra could play it.
It became super popular and is still widely performed and recorded.
There are ten movements, each representing a different piece of artwork, but there are also smaller movements in between called "Promenades" that repeat a musical theme.
These pieces of art — the “Pictures” at this "Exhibition" — were by architect and painter Viktor Hartmann, who had recently passed away, and Mussorgsky wrote the suite as a tribute to him.
Unfortunately, most of Hartmann's original paintings are actually lost.
But that gives us a chance rely on the music to let us know what the paintings were like!
Let's explore them!
1. "Gnomus" ("The Gnome")
A gnome! The music in this movement lurches with contrasting tempos, sometimes quick, sometimes slow, with a lot of stops and starts.
These techniques make the music sound like the movements of a little gnome clumsily running along!
2. "Il vecchio castello" ("The Old Castle")
Ravel's orchestration of the original piano suite includes a special instrument in this movement: an alto saxophone! The saxophone wasn't a standard orchestral instrument and still isn't today, but it's great at spinning the kind of dark melody that might conjure up the image of an old castle.
3. "Tuileries"
This short, lively movement depicts children playing in the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, but they seem to be arguing ... hopefully they can work it out!
4. "Bydlo" ("Cattle")
We get a little bit of a musical contrast here from that light, excitable last movement.
We now find ourselves in front of a painting of a cart drawn by two huge, slow-moving oxen!
The dynamics in this movement are especially interesting.
The music starts out somewhat soft, grows to be nice and forte in the middle and then diminuendos, or gets softer, suggesting that the oxcart is approaching, passing in front of us and then continuing on it’s journey.
5. "Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks"
This is one of the paintings that's still around.
You can see why this movement sounds so light and silly!
8. "Catacombs" ("Roman Tomb")
It's only fun and games for so long ... now we travel down to the dark and spooky catacombs.
Catacombs are underground burial sites with long hallways — listen to the episode to hear how Mussorgsky's music represents the space's echoes and stillness.
9. "The Hut of Baba Yaga"
We don’t get to escape the spookiness just yet … the next painting is of "The Hut of Baba Yaga," a Slavic folkloric character often depicted as a scary witch or ogre!
10. "The Bogatyr Gates" ("The Great Gate of Kiev")
This is the longest movement of the suite and it has one of the grandest melodies of the whole piece — fit for a large, majestic gate and the suite's finale!
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Classical Sprouts is produced by Emily Duncan Wilson. Kacie Brown is the digital content manager.
