Pictures of an Exhibition

The well-known cycle of music pieces by the Russian composer Modest Mussorgski based on pictures and drawings by his friend, the painter and architect Viktor Hartmann, is the subject of this program. It also discusses the circumstances under which the work was created as well as the images that underlie the individual pieces, as far as necessary for their understanding. This cycle, originally composed by Mussorgski only for piano, has over time inspired numerous composers and musicians to adapt it into their own works. The most famous arrangement is the orchestration by Maurice Ravel in 1922, which also contributed to the widespread dissemination and great popularity of the work. Another important reworking was done by Emerson, Lake & Palmer, who performed it in Newcastle in 1970 and released it as an LP in 1971. Emerson, who had already attempted classical works successfully several times, did not strictly adhere to Mussorgski, but certainly captured the spirit of the composer, even if this was sometimes combined with eccentric improvisations on the Moog synthesizer. Notably, the replacement of Promenade II and the picture "Old Castle" by a very poetic song by Greg Lake, which makes the troubadour directly experiencable in front of the old castle, should be highlighted here. Furthermore, the Japanese musician Isao Tomita is also heard with his electronic version, which is characterized by a wide variety of electroacoustic effects, giving Mussorgski's work an almost theatrical effect. Tomita manages to largely stay true to the original. Since the program was somewhat shorter than expected, a good portion of the 1st movement of the Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was added, also a very important work of 19th-century Russian classical music.