"Pictures at an Exhibition". Orchestrated by M. Ravel

Modest Mussorgsky was probably the most original figure among the creative association of composers, called - with the light hand of V. Stasov (but by no means to the unanimous pleasure of these composers themselves) - "The Mighty Handful". Some of the rudeness that was noted in him was probably the result of his six years of service in the army. To a certain extent, this was reflected in his music, its "unsmoothed" style. Much of it was perceived, and even by his fellow composers, as something “bad”, “uncivilized”, professionally unrefined and certainly requiring “correction”. Guided by the best of intentions, composers devoted to Mussorgsky, first of all, his, so to speak, "musical executor" N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, as well as A. Glazunov, took it upon themselves to complete what Mussorgsky himself had by virtue of a series causes, and especially his premature death, did not complete himself. Fulfilling this noble mission - without their work much, and, most importantly, from the legacy of Mussorgsky could not have been performed - they (and later others who undertook to edit the works of this musical genius) corrected his numerous "errors", "flaws" , and "disadvantages". But times are changing, and now we perceive the characteristic features of Mussorgsky's style and language in a new way, and now the general trend in musicology has become to restore the author's versions of Mussorgsky's works. Nevertheless, an interesting phenomenon of Mussorgsky was - and is in our time - the fact that some of his works turned out to be the richest material for composers of subsequent generations in the field of experiments with new expressive means, with new musical possibilities. Among the works that have served as such fertile material for all sorts of arrangements and transcriptions is Mussorgsky's brilliant piano cycle Pictures at an Exhibition. About this work as such, that is, about the original author's version, see our description: . . Here we will talk about the orchestral version of this work, created by M. Ravel.

Preliminarily, it is only worth noting that at the posthumous exhibition of paintings by the early deceased artist Viktor Hartmann (he was only 39 years old), a friend of M. Mussorgsky, there were only three of those whose plots were embodied in this work of his: “The Ballet of Unhatched Chicks” (costume sketch ), "Baba Yaga's Hut" (from Mussorgsky: "Hut on chicken legs. Baba Yaga") and "Bogatyr Gates of Kyiv" (from Mussorgsky: "Bogatyr Gates. In the capital city in Kyiv)

Mussorgsky's other plays were based on drawings that were not shown in the exhibition and were in Mussorgsky's personal collection or somewhere else where the composer could see them. This concerns, for example, the drawing “Goldenberg and Shmuel” (according to Mussorgsky: “Two Jews, rich and poor”): in V. Hartmann these are two separate drawings; or “Paris Catacombs” (Mussorgsky: “Catacombs (Roman tomb). With the dead in a dead language”) - a rather fantastic drawing depicting the artist himself in Parisian tomb. Finally, the plot of Limoges. Market (Big News)” is, apparently, the invention of the composer himself (Hartmann did not have such a drawing or picture, or, in any case, was not found).

Before describing M. Ravel's orchestration in more detail, a striking fact should also be noted: to date, there are more than 40 orchestrations and arrangements of "Pictures at an Exhibition" for the orchestra, various solo instruments and ensembles. And the number of these transcriptions continues to increase, having long surpassed all known records.

Describing this number, it is often said: "from Ravel's famous orchestration to Tomita's electronic recording." In fairness, it should be noted that although the orchestration of Ravel, this great master of the orchestra, is recognized as congenial to the original, it was not the first attempt to present this work in an orchestral version.

Mussorgsky's piano suite is written so colorfully, full of magnificent contrasts - humor, carelessness and, conversely, tragedy and grandeur, that it simply calls to be adapted for a large orchestra, to use the richness of its instrumental colors. Many composers have accepted this challenge. The first, as you know, was the Russian composer Mikhail Tushmalov. He made his instrumentation (1888), but not the whole cycle, but only seven pieces. M. Tushmalov was a student of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, and this was his work at the instrumentation course. N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov led it. N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov conducted the performance of this version in St. Petersburg on November 30, 1891. Of course, this experience, although it went down in the history of music as the first attempt to orchestrate "Pictures", did not enter the orchestral repertoire. For the sake of fairness, however, it should be said that this version is on the recording, which was carried out in 1980 by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Marc Andrea (Acanta DC22128).

In 1915, Pictures were orchestrated by the English conductor Henry Wood. He undertook this operation, intending to use this piece in the so-called "Promenade Concerts" held in London and which gained wide popularity. The idea seemed attractive: a suite that begins with "Walk" - in French "P romenade" - to be performed (and performed in the future) in the "Promenade Concerts"! But before making his own orchestration, Wood performed "Pictures" orchestrated by M. Tushmalov.

As for M. Ravel, even before the war, 1913, his major work related to Russian art, and specifically to Mussorgsky, belongs: the re-orchestration of Mussorgsky's opera Khovanshchina. As is known, this opera, which was not completed by the author, was supplemented and orchestrated by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. S. Diaghilev, wishing to show it to the Parisians in a new guise, approached I. Stravinsky with a proposal to make a new orchestration. He, fearing that he would not be in time for the appointed time, suggested that S. Diaghilev share this work with M. Ravel. So they did. According to the plan of S. Diaghilev, all this was done in order to present F. Chaliapin to the Parisian public in the best possible way. F. Chaliapin, however, according to the memoirs of I. Stravinsky, “could not understand the significance of such instrumentation. He refused to sing and the project was abandoned" ( Stravinsky I. Dialogues.M. 1971, p. 96).

A new appeal by M. Ravel to the legacy of M. Mussorgsky took place in 1922. This time, his friend and connoisseur of Mussorgsky's work M. D. Calvocoressi drew his attention to M. Mussorgsky's piano cycle “Pictures from the Exhibition”, which was then little known in France. By mutual agreement with the wonderful conductor S. Koussevitsky, whom Ravel counted on to perform, he undertook the task of making an orchestral version of this piano suite. Ravel enthusiastically set about an interesting and difficult task, settling in the estate of his friends - the Dreyfus in Lyon-la-Foret, where nothing distracted him from work. The premiere of the orchestral version, conducted by Koussevitzky, took place in Paris on October 19, 1922. Thanks to the orchestration of Ravel, as well as its frequent and brilliant performance by orchestras under the baton of S. Koussevitzky, Pictures have become an integral part of the world orchestral repertoire. The first recording was released in 1930 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by S. Koussevitzky. An interesting fact: in the same year, 1922, when the orchestration of Ravel was made, completely independent of Ravel and not even knowing that he was working in this direction, Leo Funtek, a Slovenian composer who lived in Finland, made his own version of the orchestration of this work. In his orchestration, "Pictures" were first performed in Heljinka on December 14, 1922.

M. Ravel based his orchestral version not on the original version of M. Mussorgsky himself, but on the edition of this work, made by the same devoted friend of the composer, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, and in which this work first saw the light (see ill. ).

The composition of the Ravel orchestra in the orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition: 3 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, alto saxophone, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bells, bells, triangle, tam-tam, ratchet, whip (percussion instrument), cymbals, snare drum, bass drum, xylophone, celesta 2 harps and strings.

Without denying the remarkable art of Ravel, some musicians noted the excessive richness of timbre colors, somewhat contradicting Mussorgsky's sharply characteristic pianism. Others, on the contrary, believe that Ravel’s orchestration is contained in Mussorgsky’s music itself, that the French composer here abandoned the usual methods of impressionism and “subtly comprehended Mussorgsky’s style, having completed his task, in essence, in a very Russian way” (Yu. Krein). Be that as it may, concert practice decided in favor of Ravel's orchestration, which is now performed by orchestras all over the world.

Authoritative catalog of classical music recordings - RedclassicalCatalog- gives a list of 69 interpretations by various orchestras and conductors of "Pictures at an Exhibition" orchestrated by M. Ravel.

As a supplement to this description, we provide a list of well-known orchestrations and arrangements of Pictures at an Exhibition by other composers.

Orchestral arrangements

1. Giuseppe Becce (1922) - for salon orchestra.

2. Leonidas Leonardi (1924).

3. Lucien Cailliet (1937).

4. Leopold Stokowski (1938) - without the Tuileries and Limoges; subsequently, Stokowski rewrote his orchestration several times, and its notes were not published until 1971.

5. Walter Goehr (1942; includes an additional piano part).

6. Sergei Gorchakov (1954).

7. Helmut Brandenburg (Helmut Brandenburg, ca. 1970).

8. Emil Naumov (c. 1974, for piano and orchestra).

9. Lawrence Leonard (1977, for piano and orchestra).

10. Zdeněk Mácal (c. 1977).

11. Vladimir Ashkenazy (1982).

12. Thomas Wilbrandt (1992).

13. Julian Yu (2002, for chamber orchestra).

14. Vladimir Boyashov.

15. Hanspeter Gmur

Non-orchestral arrangements

1. A. Inglefield-Gull (organ, 1926, only "Bogatyr Gates").

2. Giuseppe Becce (piano trio, 1930).

3. Vladimir Horowitz(piano, 1940s).

4. Rudolf Würthner, accordion orchestra, ca. 1954.

5. Ralph Burns (1957, jazz band)

6. Isao Tomita (1966, for cartoon, partially orchestral).

7. Emerson, Lake & Palmer (progressive rock band, 1971, 4 pictures with "Walk" interspersed with their own songs; see Pictures at an Exhibition).

8. Isao Tomita (synthesizer, 1975)

9. Oscar Gottlieb Blarr (organ, 1976).

10. Elgar Howarth (brass band, ca. 1977)

11. Arthur Willis (organ, 1970s).

12. Heinz Wallisch (2 guitars, 1970s)

13. Günther Kaunzinger (organ, 1980).

14. Kazuhito Yamashita (guitar, 1981)

15. Reginald Haché (2 pianos, 1982)

16. Henk de Vlieger (14 percussion, celesta, harp and piano, 1981/1984).

17. Jean Guillou (organ, c. 1988).

18. John Boyd, woodwind orchestra

19. Gert van Keulen (woodwind orchestra, 1992)

20. Hans Wilhelm Plate (44 pianists on 44 grand pianos and one "prepared piano", 1993);

21. Rock group "Tsargrad" (arranger Alexander Vidyakin, synthesizers, electric and acoustic guitars, vocalists. Full score, 1994).

22. Elmar Rothe (3 guitars, 1995)

23. Mekong Delta (metal, 1997; also arranged for a band with an orchestra imitated on a synthesizer).

24. Joachim Linckelmann, woodwind quintet, ca. 1999

25. Adam Berces (Adam Berces, synthesizer, 2007).

26. Friedrich Lips (bayan).

27. Sergey Kravtsov (string quartet, 2002).

NB ! The number of Nos. in Ravel's orchestration differs from their number in the original piano version. This is explained by the fact that Ravel, firstly, M. Ravel numbered all the constituent parts of the cycle, including the interludes (“Walks”; in Mussorgsky they have no numbers), secondly, M. Ravel one “Walk” - between the play “Cattle” (No. 7) and “The Ballet of the Unhatched chicks ”(Mussorgsky - No. 9) - abolished. So, in the end, there were fourteen numbers, while Mussorgsky had ten. (The last number - "10" - has, as we know, a symbolic meaning - "ten divine commandments", - which may prompt us to consider this piano cycle by Mussorgsky also from the point of view of Christian symbolism).

This introduction does not make up the main - meaningful - part of the exhibition, but is an essential element of the entire musical composition. For the first time, the musical material of this introduction is presented in full; later on, the motive of "Walking" in different versions - sometimes calm, sometimes more agitated - is used as interludes between plays, which perfectly expresses the psychological state of the viewer at the exhibition, when he moves from one picture to another.

Hartmann's drawing depicted a Christmas toy: nutcrackers in the form of a small gnome. For Mussorgsky, this play gives the impression of something more sinister than just a Christmas decoration. If you do not know the author's title of this piece, then in the extremely inventive orchestration by M. Ravel, it appears more like a portrait of a fairy-tale giant (and not a dwarf) and, in any case, not a musical embodiment of the image of a Christmas tree toy (as it is with Hartmann).

In some cases, the motive of "Walking" turns out to be binder for neighboring plays (this is what happens in the transition from the play "Gnome" to the play "Old Castle"). In the course of the work, these transitions in the literal and figurative sense are unmistakably recognized.

V. Stasov in the catalog of V. Hartmann's exhibition wrote that the artist, in order to convey the scale of the castle, depicted a singer - a troubadour with a lute against its background. There is no troubadour in the now well-known drawing by V. Hartmann, but the drawing itself well conveys the atmosphere of this play. Ravel used an alto saxophone to convey the singer's imaginary song. Historically, it happened to be the second significant work for saxophone in the classical repertoire. The first use of this instrument was by another French composer - J. Bizet (in the opera "Arlesian").

Once again, the motive of "Walking" turns out to be binder for neighboring plays - the transition from the play "The Old Castle" to the play "The Tuileries Garden". It's a transition, literally and figuratively.

The Tuileries Garden, or rather the Tuileries Garden (by the way, that's what Tchaikovsky has in the French version of the name) is a place in the center of Paris. It extends approximately one kilometer from Place Carousel to Place de la Concorde. This garden (now it should rather be called a square) is a favorite place for walking Parisians with children.

Although it was not possible to find a picture by V. Hartmann, which would depict exactly the "Tuileries Garden", but, nevertheless, in these drawings there is an inscription "Paris" ("Paris").

Comparison of the piano version (performed by S. Richter) with the orchestral version (instrumentation by M. Ravel) suggests that in Richter, who smoothes this contrast rather than emphasizes, the participants in the scene are only children, perhaps boys (their collective portrait is drawn in the extreme parts) and girls (the middle part, more graceful in rhythm and melodic pattern). As for the orchestral version, in the middle part of the piece, the image of nannies arises in the mind, that is, someone adult who is trying to gently settle the quarrel between the children (admonishing intonations of the strings).

V. Stasov, presenting the "Pictures" to the public and giving explanations to the plays of this suite, specified that the redneck is a Polish cart on huge wheels, drawn by oxen.

The justification for illustrating this play with this drawing by V. Hartmann can be the fact that when V. Stasov asked Mussorgsky what this play meant, Mussorgsky answered that “Let there be “Cattle” between us.” This could be interpreted to mean that in fact it is "the suffering of the Polish people from tyranny."

It is known that the author's remark in the notes instructs to finish the play fortissimo, without any diminuendo. However, in Rimsky-Korsakov's version it ends with ppp (very quietly). Probably, this fading of sonority should represent a departing cart. In Ravel's orchestration, this idea is conveyed.

We must pay tribute to the ingenuity of Hartmann, who managed to find a form for unhatched chicks; this drawing of his represents a sketch of costumes for the characters in G. Gerber's ballet "Trilby" staged by Petipa at the Bolshoi Theater in 1871. The orchestration by M. Ravel is also highly inventive.

9.

And again, the maximum contrast with the previous play.

It is known that during his lifetime, Hartmann presented the composer with two of his drawings made in Poland - “A Jew in a fur hat” and “Poor Jew. Sandomierz. Stasov recalled: "Mussorgsky greatly admired the expressiveness of these pictures." So this play, strictly speaking, is not a picture "from the exhibition", but rather from Mussorgsky's personal collection. But, of course, this circumstance does not affect our perception of the musical content of Pictures. In this play, Mussorgsky almost teeters on the brink of caricature. And here this ability of his - to convey the very essence of character - manifested itself unusually brightly, almost more visible than in the best creations of the greatest Wanderers artists. The statements of contemporaries are known that he had the ability to depict anything with sounds.

We have reached the middle of the cycle - not so much in arithmetic terms (in terms of the number of numbers already sounded and still remaining), but in terms of the artistic impression that this work gives us as a whole. And Mussorgsky, clearly realizing this, allows the listener a longer rest - here the “Walk” sounds almost exactly in the version in which it sounded at the beginning of the work (the last sound is extended by one “extra” measure: a kind of theatrical gesture - a raised index finger: “Something else will happen!...”).

The autograph contains a note (in French, later crossed out by Mussorgsky): “Big news: Mr. Pimpan from Ponta-Pontaleon has just found his cow: Runaway. “Yes, ma'am, that was yesterday. - No, ma'am, it was the third day. Well, yes, ma'am, a cow roamed the neighborhood. “Well, no, madam, the cow didn’t roam at all. Etc.".

In the catalog of paintings by V. Hartmann at the exhibition, there were about 70 drawings of Limoges: “Limoges. Ruined Wall”, “The Castle in Limoges and the 112-year-old Old Woman”, “Limoges”, “Sculptures in the Street”, etc. Find, however, the drawing “Limoges. Market" failed. But on the other hand, among this mass of sketches there is a sheet with fourteen pen drawings. This sheet is closest to Mussorgsky's play.

The plot of the play is comical and simple. A glance at the music pages involuntarily suggests that the "French" in this cycle - the Tuileries Garden and the market in Limoges - Hartmann - Mussorgsky saw in the same emotional vein. Reading by performers highlights these plays in different ways. This play, depicting "bazaar women" and their dispute, sounds more energetic than a children's quarrel. At the same time, it should be noted that the performers, wishing to enhance the effect and sharpen the contrasts, in a certain sense ignore the composer's instructions: in the performance of the State Orchestra conducted by E. Svetlanov of the orchestral version of M. Ravel, the tempo is very fast, in essence, it is Presto. There is a feeling of rapid movement somewhere. Mussorgsky has prescribed allegretto. He paints with sounds a lively scene taking place on one a place surrounded by the "Brownian movement" of the crowd, as can be observed in any crowded and busy market. We hear a stream of colloquial speech, a sharp increase in sonority ( crescendi), sharp accents ( sforzandi). At the end, in the performance of this piece, the movement accelerates even more, and on the crest of this whirlwind we “fall” into ...

... How not to remember the lines of A. Maykov!

ex tenebris lux

Your soul is grieving. From the day -

From a sunny day - fell

You're right into the night and, all cursing,

A phial has already taken over a mortal ...

Before this number in the autograph there is Mussorgsky's note in Russian: “NB: Latin text: with the dead in a dead language. It would be nice to have a Latin text: the creative spirit of the deceased Hartmann leads me to the skulls, calls to them, the skulls quietly boasted.

Hartmann's drawing is one of the few surviving ones on which Mussorgsky wrote his "Pictures". It depicts the artist himself with his companion and another person who accompanies them, lighting the way with a lantern. Around racks with skulls.

V. Stasov described this play in a letter to N. Rimsky-Korsakov: “In the same second part [“ Pictures at an Exhibition ”. - A. M.] there are several lines of unusually poetic. This is the music for Hartmann's picture "Catacombs of Paris", all consisting of skulls. At the Musoryanin (as Stasov affectionately called Mussorgsky. - A. M.) a gloomy dungeon is first depicted (in long, drawn chords, often orchestral, with large fermatas). [It is noteworthy that even Mussorgsky's contemporaries saw "Pictures" as an orchestral work. - A. M.] Then, on a tremolando, the theme of the first promenade plays in a minor key - the lights in the skulls lit up, and then suddenly Hartmann's magical, poetic call to Mussorgsky is heard.

Hartmann's drawing depicted a clock in the form of Baba Yaga's hut on chicken legs, Mussorgsky added Baba Yaga's train in a mortar.

If we consider “Pictures at an Exhibition” not only as a separate work, but in the context of Mussorgsky’s entire work, then we can see that the destructive and creative forces in his music exist in continuity, although one of them prevails at every moment. So, in this play we will find a combination of sinister, mystical black colors, on the one hand, and light ones, on the other. And the intonations here are of two types: on the one hand, viciously reckless, frightening, piercingly sharp, on the other, peppy, cheerfully inviting. One group of intonations, as it were, depresses, the second, on the contrary, inspires, activates. The image of Baba Yaga, according to popular beliefs, is the focus of everything cruel, destroying good intentions, interfering with the implementation of good, good deeds. However, the composer, showing Baba Yaga from this side (remark at the beginning of the play: feroce[ital. - ferociously]), led the story to a different plane, opposing the idea of ​​destruction to the idea of ​​growth and victory of good principles. By the end of the piece, the music becomes more and more impulsive, the joyful ringing grows, and, in the end, a huge sound wave is born from the bowels of the dark registers of the piano, finally dissolving all sorts of gloomy impulses and selflessly preparing the coming of the most victorious, most exultant image of the cycle - the anthem of the “Bogatyr Gates” .

This play opens up a series of images and works depicting all kinds of devilry, evil spirits and obsession - "Night on Bald Mountain" by M. Mussorgsky himself, "Baba Yaga" and "Kikimora" by A. Lyadov, Leshy in "The Snow Maiden" by N. Rimsky -Korsakov, "Delusion" by S. Prokofiev ... In the orchestration of M. Ravel, this piece is listed as No. 13. Is it by chance?

ill. W. Hartman. City gate sketch

The reason for writing this play was Hartmann's sketch for the city gates in Kyiv, which were to be installed in commemoration of the fact that Emperor Alexander II managed to escape death during the assassination attempt on April 4, 1866.

In the music of M. Mussorgsky, the tradition of such final celebratory scenes in Russian operas found a vivid expression. The play is perceived precisely as such an opera finale. You can even point to a specific prototype - , which ends M. Glinka. The final play of Mussorgsky's cycle is the intonational, dynamic, textural culmination of the entire work. This is especially vividly conveyed in the orchestral version of "Pictures at an Exhibition" instrumented by M. Ravel. The composer himself outlined the nature of the music with the words: Maestoso.Congrandezza(Italian - solemnly, majestically). The theme of the play is nothing more than a jubilant version of the melody "Walks". The whole work ends festively and joyfully, with a powerful ringing of bells. Mussorgsky laid the foundation for the tradition of such bell ringing, recreated not by bell means - , Second Piano Concerto, C Minor by S. Rachmaninov , his first Prelude in C sharp minor for piano …

© AlexanderMAIKAPAR

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky born March 9th, 1839. His mother was the first to teach him music. By the age of seven, Modest Petrovich already played the piano well. At the age of ten, following the family tradition, his father sent the boy to St. Petersburg to the School of Guards Ensigns.

In parallel with studying at school, music lessons continued, M. Mussorgsky composed well and a lot. A.Gerke taught the composer during this period.

After school, he, as one of the best students, was sent to serve in the Preobrazhensky Regiment. But the service seemed to Modest Petrovich empty and boring, he really saw his vocation in music, namely in Russian music. Thanks to his interest, he met A.S. Dargomyzhsky, in whose house interesting musicians gathered. Here he found himself a future mentor Balakiyev.

Captured by creativity, Mussorgsky quits service in the regiment and retires. Friends and acquaintances dissuaded Modest Petrovich from such a decision, because being a guards officer promises a simple and successful life. But he finally decided what he decided, explaining it as the need to serve his people. He became a wanderer (the so-called "commune" formed by young painters), one of those who scorned the life of most young people, full of emptiness, sybaritism, doing nothing.

From August 15, 1868 to August 15, 1869, the composer worked hard on an opera libretto called Boris Godunov. He wanted not just to "musicize" Pushkin's text, but to create his own interpretation, corresponding to the scale of the work.

From some moments of the opera "Boris Godunov" goosebumps run on the skin ...

But the opera "Boris Godunov" in its original version was not accepted by the directorate of the imperial theaters and Mussorgsky was refused. Shortly after editing, and only thanks to the intervention of artist friends, the libretto was staged in 1974 at the Mariinsky Theater under the direction of E.F. Napravnik. The premiere was successful, but was not accepted by the royal family. Therefore, she was soon removed from the stage.
In general, many of the works of Modest Petrovich were not accepted by the public, he composed because it was not accepted at that time, therefore he could not become popular.

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky - "Pictures at an Exhibition"

The suite "" was written by Mussorgsky in 1874 as a tribute to his friendship with the artist and architect Viktor Hartmann (he died before he was forty). It was the posthumous exhibition of paintings by a friend that gave Mussorgsky the idea to create a composition.

The cycle begins with the play "Walk", which personifies the composer's walk through the gallery from picture to picture, so this theme is repeated in the intervals between the descriptions of the paintings. The work consists of ten parts, each of which conveys the image of a picture.

The first image - "Gnome" appears to the listener as a funny creature endowed with human feelings.

The second sketch is designed to convey the atmosphere of a medieval castle and the only thing that enlivens it is the image of a troubadour singing nearby.

Sketch three - "Tuile garden. Quarrel of children after the game. Describes children against the backdrop of the Paris city park.

"Cattle" - in Mussorgsky's music one feels not only the heaviness of a huge cart-two-wheeler drawn by oxen, depicted in the picture, but also the heaviness of the servile life of the peasants, its monotony.

"The Ballet of Unhatched Chicks" is a semi-joking scherzo, the prototype of which is Hartmann's canvas for the ballet "Trilibi" (the ballet was based on the motif of Charles Nodier's fairy tale). The canvas depicts costumes in the form of eggshells.

"Two Jews, Rich and Poor" is the title of the sixth part of the "Pictures at an Exhibition" cycle. The artist presented two portrait sketches from nature. Using contrast as a device, Mussorgsky portrayed two completely opposite characters in music.

"Limoges. Market" - Sketch number seven - depicts the daily bustle of one of the provincial cities of France, in particular local gossips.

Work number eight - "Catacombs. Roman tomb" Conveys the composer's philosophical reflections, reinforced by the feeling of losing a friend, rather than an attempt to convey the mystical atmosphere felt by a person examining an ancient Roman tomb with a lantern in his hands. In this work, one can discern an attempt to communicate with an already dead person with the help of music, grief is felt in the sound.

"Hut on chicken legs" - this work personifies the flight of Baba Yaga on a broom, menacingly tapping with a stick.

The final composition is "Bogatyr Gates. In the capital city of Kyiv." This play conveys the epic power of the ancient city and its grandeur, the chime of bells and the sublime chorale are heard in it. The play worthily leads to the final suite "".

List of works

Operas:
"Marriage" (1868).
"Boris Godunov" (1874).
"Khovanshchina" (completed by Rimsky-Korsakov 1886).
"Midsummer Night on Bald Mountain" Musical picture (1867).
Pieces and suite for piano "Pictures at an Exhibition" (1874).

Piano Cycle (1874)

Orchestrated by Maurice Ravel (1922)

Orchestra composition: 3 flutes, piccolo, 3 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, alto saxophone, 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, triangle, snare drum, whip, clapper , cymbals, bass drum, tom-tom, bells, bell, xylophone, celesta, 2 harps, strings.

History of creation

1873 was a difficult year for Mussorgsky. Friends stopped gathering in the evenings at L.I. Shestakova, Glinka's sister, who became seriously ill. V. Stasov, who always supported the composer morally, left St. Petersburg for a long time. The last blow was the sudden, in the prime of life and talent, the death of the artist Viktor Hartmann (1834-1873). “What horror, what grief! Mussorgsky wrote to Stasov. - In the last race of Viktor Hartmann in Petrograd, we walked with him after the music along Furshtadtskaya Street; At some lane he stopped, turned pale, leaned against the wall of some house and could not catch his breath. Then I did not attach much importance to this phenomenon ... Having fiddled with suffocation and heartbeats myself ... I thought that this was the fate of nervous natures, mainly, but I was bitterly mistaken - as it turns out ... This mediocre fool mows down death, not arguing..."

The following year, 1874, at the initiative of the returned Stasov, a posthumous exhibition of Hartmann's works was organized, which presented his works in oils, watercolors, sketches from nature, sketches of theatrical scenery and costumes, and architectural projects. There were also some products made by the artist's hands - tongs for cracking nuts, a clock in the form of a hut on chicken legs, etc.

The exhibition made a huge impression on Mussorgsky. He decided to write a program piano suite, the content of which would be the works of the late artist. The composer interprets them in his own way. So, the sketch for the ballet "Trilby", depicting tiny chicks in shells, turns into "The Ballet of Unhatched Chicks", nutcrackers in the form of a bow-legged dwarf become the basis of the portrait of this fabulous creature, and the clock-hut inspires the musician to play a play depicting the flight of Baba- Yagi on the broomstick.

The piano cycle was created very quickly - in three weeks in June 1874. The composer reported to Stasov: “Hartmann boils, as Boris boiled,” sounds and thoughts hung in the air, I swallow and overeat, I barely have time to scratch on paper ... I want to do it faster and more reliably. My physiognomy is visible in the interludes ... How well it works. Under the "physiognomy", visible in the interludes, the composer meant the links between the numbers - the images of Hartmann. In these bundles, called "The Walk", Mussorgsky painted himself walking through the exhibition, moving from one exhibit to another. The composer finished the work on June 22 and dedicated it to V.V. Stasov.

Then, in the summer of 1874, "Pictures" with the subtitle "Memories of Viktor Hartmann" were prepared by the composer for publication, but published only in 1886, after the composer's death. It took several more years for this deeply original, unparalleled work to enter the repertoire of pianists.

The brightness of the images, their picturesqueness, piano coloring pushed for the orchestral embodiment of "Pictures". The archive of Rimsky-Korsakov preserved a page of the orchestration of one of the parts of the cycle - "The Old Castle". Later, a student of Rimsky-Korsakov, M. Tushmalov, orchestrated it, but it remained unperformed. In 1922, Maurice Ravel, who was a passionate admirer of Mussorgsky's work, also turned to this work. His brilliant orchestral rendition of "Pictures at an Exhibition" quickly conquered the concert stage and became as popular as the original piano version of the work. The score was first published by the Russian Musical Publishing House in Paris in 1927.

Music

The first number - "Walk" - is based on a wide melody in the Russian folk character, with a variable meter characteristic of folk songs, performed first by a trumpet solo, and then supported by a choir of brass instruments. Gradually, other instruments are connected, after the sound of tutti, the second number begins without interruption.

This is "Gnome". It is characterized by bizarre, broken intonations, sharp jumps, sudden pauses, tense harmonies, transparent orchestration using the celesta and harp. All this vividly draws a fantastic and mysterious image.

"Walk", significantly reduced in comparison with the initial one, takes the listener to the next picture - "The Old Castle". The bassoon, sparingly supported by the solitary sound of the second bassoon and pizzicato double basses, sings a melancholic serenade. The melody passes to the saxophone with its characteristic expressive timbre, then it is sung by other instruments to the accompaniment imitating the sound of the lute.

A short "Walk" leads to the "Tuileries Garden" (its subtitle is "A quarrel of children after the game"). This is a lively, joyful scherzo, permeated with a cheerful hubbub, running around, and the good-natured grumbling of nannies. It rushes by quickly, giving way to a bright contrast.

The next picture is called "Cattle". Hartmann depicted under this name a heavy cart drawn by oxen on huge wheels. Measured movement with heavy chords dominates here; against its background, the tuba sings a drawn-out dreary song, in which, however, a gloomy hidden power is felt. Gradually, the sonority expands, grows, and then subsides, as if a wagon is hiding in the distance.

Another "Walk" in a modified form - with a theme in a high flute register - prepares for the "Ballet of Unhatched Chicks" - a charming graceful schercino with bizarre harmonies, transparent orchestration, numerous grace notes imitating bird chirping.

This number is immediately followed by the everyday scene “Samuel Goldenberg and Shmuyle”, which is sharply contrasting to it, usually called “Two Jews - rich and poor”. Stasov wrote about her: “Two Jews sketched from life by Hartmann in 1868 during his journey: the first is a rich fat Jew, smug and cheerful, the other is poor, skinny and complaining, almost crying. Mussorgsky greatly admired the expressiveness of these pictures, and Hartmann immediately presented them to his friend...” loach, as if choking on a plaintive patter. These themes, at first held separately, then sound simultaneously, in counterpoint in different keys, creating a duet that is unique in color.

"Limoges. Market. (Big news)” is the title of the next issue. Initially, the composer preceded it with a short program: “Big news: Mr. Pusanjou has just found his cow Fugitive. But the Limoges gossips do not quite agree on this case, because Madame Ramboursac has acquired beautiful porcelain teeth, while M. Panta-Pantaléon's nose, which disturbs him, remains red like a peony all the time. This is a brilliant capriccio, based on a continuous fussy movement with capricious, changeable, teasing intonations, calls of instruments, frequent changes in dynamics, culminating in tutti fortissimo - the gossips reached ecstasy in their chatter. But everything is abruptly cut off fortissimo by trombones and tuba, intoning one sound - si.

Without a break, attacca, the next number enters in sharp contrast - "Catacombs (Roman tomb)". These are only 30 measures of gloomy chords, sometimes quiet, sometimes loud, depicting a gloomy dungeon in the mysterious light of a lantern. In the picture, according to Stasov, the artist depicted himself, with a lantern in his hand, examining the catacombs. This number is, as it were, an introduction to the next one, coming without a break - "With the dead in a dead language." In the manuscript, the composer wrote: “Latin text: with the dead in a dead language. It would be nice to have a Latin text: the creative spirit of the deceased Hartmann leads me to the skulls, calls to them, the skulls quietly glowed. In mournful B minor, a modified theme of "Walks" sounds framed by quiet tremolos and brass chords reminiscent of a chorale.

"Hut on chicken legs" - again emphasized contrast. Its beginning depicts the rapid flight of Baba Yaga on a broomstick: wide jumps, alternating with pauses, turn into unstoppable movement. The middle episode - in a more chamber sound - is filled with mysterious rustles, alert sounds. The orchestration is original: against the background of the continuous trembling sounds of the flutes, the theme of Baba Yaga, consisting of short chants and formed in the first section, is intoned by the bassoon and double basses. Then it appears at the tuba and low strings, accompanied by tremolo and pizzicato strings, individual celesta chords, while the harp sounds its modified version. Unusual colors give a special shade of witchcraft, magic. And again a swift flight.

Without a break, attacca, the finale enters - "The Bogatyr Gates (in the capital city in Kyiv)". This is a musical embodiment of the architectural project of the Kyiv city gates, which Hartmann saw in the old Russian style, with an arch decorated with an old helmet and a gate church. His first theme, majestic, similar to an epic tune, in the powerful sound of brass and bassoons with a contrabassoon, resembles the theme of "Walks". It expands more and more, fills the entire sound space, interspersed with the old church banner chant “Be baptized into Christ”, served more chamberly, in the strict quadruple of wooden instruments. The number concludes, like the whole cycle, with a solemn and festive bell ringing, conveyed by the full sound of the orchestra.

L. Mikheeva

In 1922, Maurice Ravel completed the orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, a work of unusual originality both in terms of the music itself and its pianistic embodiment. True, there are many details in “Pictures” that can be imagined in orchestral sound, but for this it was necessary to find colors on your palette that organically merge with the original. Ravel carried out such a synthesis and created a score that has remained an example of mastery and stylistic sensitivity.

The orchestration of "Pictures at an Exhibition" was performed not only with exceptional ingenuity, but also with fidelity to the nature of the original. Minor corrections were made to it, but almost all of them are related to the specifics of the sound of the instruments. In essence, they amounted to a change in nuances, a variation in repetitions, a cut of one "Walk" repeated twice, and the addition of one measure in the accompaniment to the melody of "Ancient Castle"; the longer duration than in the original of the organ item in the Bogatyr Gates and the introduction of a new rhythm in the brass parts exhaust the list of changes made to the score. All this does not violate the general character of Mussorgsky's music, changes in details arose during the work on the score, and they were minimal.

The orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition, as always with Ravel, is based on precise calculation and knowledge of each instrument and possible timbre combinations. Experience and ingenuity prompted the composer to many characteristic details of the score. Let us recall the glissando of the strings (“Dwarf”), the magnificent solo of the alto saxophone (“The Old Castle”), the fantastic coloring of the “Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks”, the grandiose sound of the finale. For all their surprise, Ravel's orchestral finds convey the inner essence of Mussorgsky's music, and are included in the structure of his images very organically. However, as already noted, the piano texture of "Pictures" has features of orchestration, this created favorable conditions for the work of a thoughtful and inspired artist, which was Ravel.

Ravel turned to the orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition, having already worked on the score of Khovanshchina. In addition, he was the author of orchestral editions of his own piano works, and these scores were perceived as originals, not transcriptions. In relation to "Pictures at an Exhibition" such statements are impossible, but the high dignity of the orchestration of Mussorgsky's brilliant work is undeniable. This confirms his continued success with the public since the first performance, which took place in Paris on May 3, 1923 under the direction of S. Koussevitzky (This date is given by N. Slonimsky in his book "Music since 1900". A. Prunier indicates another - May 8, 1922 .).

Ravel's orchestration of "Pictures at an Exhibition" also provoked individual criticisms: it was reproached for insufficiently consistent with the spirit of the original, did not agree with changes in several measures, etc. These reproaches can sometimes be heard in our time. However, the orchestration is still the best among others, it has rightfully entered the concert repertoire: it has been played and continues to be played by the best orchestras and conductors of all countries.

Galina Levasheva

A funny, clumsy gnome with crooked, short legs, a flock of cheerful smart children in the beautiful green park of the Tuileries in Paris; a clock house on chicken legs, in which, of course, Baba Yaga lives; helpless chickens in broken eggshells...
These are pictures from the exhibition. "Pictures" that can not only be seen, but also heard. They were drawn in the last century by a young talented architect Hartmann, and Modest Mussorgsky, a brilliant Russian composer, made them sound.

Viktor Hartman

Viktor Hartmann died very young. After his death, an exhibition of sketches, sketches, architectural designs and plans of this artist-architect was arranged at the Academy of Arts. Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky dedicated his piano suite "Pictures at an Exhibition" to the memory of Hartmann. The composer depicted with music not only some of Hartmann's works that he especially liked, but also himself - passing from one picture to another.
How did he do it? That's how.

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky

Before starting to "show" the pictures, the composer composed a short introduction, which he called "Walk". Smooth, unhurried music depicts the calm, slow gait of a person examining the exhibition. And at the same time, the introduction seems to warn, prepares us for the fact that now we will hear something interesting.
The intro is over. We stop before the first picture: "Gnome".
The little man, waddling, ran a little and stopped - it is difficult to run on such short, crooked legs. I tried to run slower - again nothing happened. He waited a little, rested and diligently hobbled on. Hurry somewhere. jumps, stumbles dwarf. Tired again, he walked more slowly, but still diligently and clumsily. It looks like he's even angry with himself. Run again and - stop! The music broke off. He must have fallen poor.
All this can be heard in the music of "Gnome". A quick "waddle", a short musical phrase. Then one long, lingering note - stop. Again, the same "waddle" phrase, only it is played a little slower and quieter - it gives the impression of uncertainty. Here, separate, jerky notes sounded, the music began to bounce, the notes do not go smoothly, side by side, but in jumps at a great distance - awkwardly, bizarrely. So we see this forest man.
You listen to how musical phrases alternate one after another, different in character, in strength, in loudness of sound, and as if you are going along with the dwarf all his hard way through the forest bumps, but dense forest more often, between tangled mossy roots ...
Walk again. The same music as in the introduction, but not entirely, but a small piece of it, as a reminder. The music has been changed, but not much - it's easy to recognize.
The composer goes on, and gives us a rest, to prepare for the next picture: "The Old Castle". This music is different. She is quiet and slow. The piano sounds strange, like some ancient instrument is playing. Maybe a lute?..
If the "Gnome" came to life in front of us immediately, then here at first the music seems to be waiting. It sounds like an intro to a song. And we, together with the music, are waiting for what will happen.
An unusually beautiful melody poured out, thoughtful and inspirational. We do not know what the songs of the troubadours were like, but this quiet night song near the walls of the old castle is full of truly knightly nobility and quivering excitement.
There was a wonderful chant. The lingering, "melting" sounds fade. Night, silence. Old lock.
"Walk" this time sounds more lively, more energetic, although it is still smooth and generally calm.
We are waiting for some new picture.
"Tuileries" is the name of one of the Parisian gardens. Even if we do not know the content of Hartmann's picture, we will immediately guess that this is a fun game - maybe tags or burners. And there is. The artist depicted children playing in the Tuileries garden. And the music is so playful, a little hectic and very "childish".
There is no Walk between the Tuileries and the next painting. Obviously, the composer needed to emphasize as brightly as possible the enormous difference between the two paintings standing next to him, to strengthen the already striking contrast between the cheerful dressed-up children playing in the Parisian garden, and ...
"Cattle" is Polish for "cattle". Tired, hungry, thin oxen are slowly dragging a loaded cart; the cart sways, the cart creaks, the oxen walks heavily. And next to it is a man. The same tired, thin, haggard. He drives the oxen with a dull "e-gay" and pulls a monotonous, simple song. Everything is very simple and very scary: for the landowners, the man himself is the same "cattle" as his oxen. But Mussorgsky would not have been a "great singer of people's grief" if he had depicted in music only this joyless resignation to a difficult fate.
Listen to the music. It has hidden strength and hidden, deaf anger. The music grows, expands, it sounds louder, more insistent. Then she resigns herself again, calms down. But now we will not be deceived by her seeming humility - we have already seen the formidable strength and wrath of a peasant wandering behind his oxen.
Both Mussorgsky and Hartmann believed in this force.
Why did the "Walk" sound so transparently, so vividly? Strangely and unexpectedly, a familiar musical theme passes high and is pumped up by two perky short trills. The composer distracts us from heavy and sad thoughts. Move on to the next picture. It's called The Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks.
Oh how funny they are! How hilariously they shake their little dry wings, shift from foot to foot and quietly squeak in thin voices.
That's where they come from, those short, fast shots in "The Walk"! Here, almost all the music is filled with them. All the time they sound - sharp and as if trembling streams. Little by little, little by little, little, not yet fully hatched chicks learn to jump and flap their wings.
From one picture to another the composer leads us, he walks with us around the exhibition.
We reach the picture, which depicts an amazing clock-house, and we hear how the mistress of this house, Baba Yaga, rushes past with a whistle and thunder in a mortar! ..
Finally, the theme "Walking" sounds for the last time. Only now it is already the music of another, the last picture - "Bogatyr Gates in Kyiv".
Heavy pillars seem to have entered the ground from decrepit old age, and an elegant arch topped with a huge carved kokoshnik rests on them. This is what the gate looks like in Hartmann's drawing.
Mussorgsky, who had already changed many times, varied the Walk in every way, it turns out that not only did not exhaust all the possibilities of this music, but even seemed to deliberately hide its true beauty from us.
So here it is, calm, unhurried "Walk"! It has majestic confidence and heroic power. That's when her truly Russian character, which we have only guessed until now, is fully revealed to us. It is similar to ancient epic tunes and at the same time to a solemn anthem.
Gate of Russian heroes. A monument to the greatness and glory of the Russian people! .. How beautifully the solemn bell ringing conveys the piano, and how magnificently the composer used this feature of the piano.
All the more solemn, all the brighter, more majestic sounds familiar, miraculously changed theme "Walks". How good it is to recognize it in the mighty chords of the finale!
This was always Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky. Whatever he wrote about, whatever pictures his music painted, it was the brightest, the most brilliant when he wrote about Russia, about its people.

Each play from "Pictures at an Exhibition" has its own name, Russian versions of them:

No. 1. Dwarf.
No. 2. Old castle.
No. 3. Tuileries garden. Quarrel of children after the game.
No. 4. Cattle (Polish "cattle").
No. 5. Ballet of unhatched chicks.
No. 6. Two Jews, rich and poor.
No. 7. Limoges. Market. Big news.
No. 8. Catacombs. Roman tomb.
No. 9. Hut on chicken legs (Baba Yaga).
No. 10. Bogatyrsky gate.

Plays-"pictures" are interconnected by the theme-interlude "Walk".

The Pictures at an Exhibition suite was written by Modest Mussorgsky in 1874 as a tribute to his friendship with the artist and architect Victor Hartmann (who died before he was forty). It was the posthumous exhibition of paintings by a friend that gave Mussorgsky the idea to create a composition.

This cycle can be called a suite - a sequence of ten independent pieces, united by a common idea. Like every play, it is a musical picture that reflects the impression of Mussorgsky, inspired by this or that drawing by Hartmann.
Here are bright everyday pictures, and well-aimed sketches of human characters, and landscapes, and images of Russian fairy tales, epics. Individual miniatures contrast with each other in terms of content and expressive means.

The cycle begins with the play "Walk", which personifies the composer's walk through the gallery from picture to picture, so this theme is repeated in the intervals between the descriptions of the paintings.
The work consists of ten parts, each of which conveys the image of a picture.

Spanish Svyatoslav Richter
Walk 00:00
I. Dwarf 01:06
Walk 03:29
II. Medieval castle 04:14
Walk 08:39
III. Tuile garden 09:01
IV. Cattle 09:58
Walk 12:07
V. Ballet of unhatched chicks 12:36
VI. Two Jews, rich and poor 13:52
Walk 15:33
VII. Limoges. Market 16:36
VIII. Catacombs. Roman tomb 17:55
IX. Hut on chicken legs 22:04
X. Heroic gates. In the capital city of Kyiv 25:02

The first picture is "Gnome". Hartmann's drawing depicted a nutcracker in the form of a clumsy gnome. Mussorgsky in his music endows the gnome with human character traits, while maintaining the appearance of a fabulous and bizarre creature. Deep suffering is also heard in this short piece, and the angular tread of a gloomy dwarf is also captured in it.

In the next picture - "The Old Castle" - the composer conveyed the night landscape and quiet chords that create a ghostly and mysterious flavor. calm, enchanted mood. Against the background of the tonic organ point, the sad melody of the troubadour depicted in Hartmann's painting sounds. The song changes

The third picture - "The Tuilliers Garden" - contrasts sharply with the previous plays. It depicts children playing in a park in Paris. Everything is joyful and sunny in this music. The fast pace, whimsical accents convey the revival and fun of children's play against the backdrop of a summer day.

The fourth picture is called "Cattle". Hartmann's drawing shows a peasant wagon on high wheels pulled by two dull oxen. In the music, one can hear how wearily, oxen step heavily, a wagon slowly drags with a creak.

And again, the nature of the music changes dramatically: provocatively and stupidly, out of place dissonances sound in a high register, alternating with chords, and all at a rapid pace. Hartmann's drawing was a sketch of costumes for the ballet Trilby. It depicts young students of a ballet school performing a characteristic dance. Dressed as chicks, they are not yet completely freed from the shell. Hence the funny name of the miniature "Ballet of Unhatched Chicks".

The play "Two Jews" depicts a conversation between a rich man and a poor man. Mussorgsky's principle was embodied here: to express the character of a person in music through speech intonations as accurately as possible. And although there is no vocal part in this song, there are no words, in the sounds of the piano one can unmistakably hear the rough, arrogant voice of the rich man and the timid, humble, begging voice of the poor. For the rich man's speech, Mussorgsky found imperious intonations, the decisive character of which is enhanced by the low register. The speech of the poor man is in deep contrast to her - quiet, quivering, intermittent, in a high register.

In the picture "The Limoges Market" a motley market crowd is drawn. In music, the discordant dialect, cries, hustle and festive bustle of the southern bazaar are well conveyed by the composer.


The miniature of the "Catacombs" is written according to the drawing by Hartmann "Roman Catacombs". The chords sound, now quiet and distant, as if echoes lost in the depths of the labyrinth, then sharp clear, like the sudden ringing of a falling drop, the ominous cry of an owl... walls, a disturbing, vague presentiment.

The next picture - "Hut on chicken legs" - draws a fabulous image of a Baba Yaga. The artist depicts a clock in the form of a fairy-tale hut. Mussorgsky rethought the image. His music embodies not a beautiful toy hut, but its mistress, Baba Yaga. So she whistled and rushed in her mortar to all the devils of the dog, driving them with a broom. From the play it blows with epic scope, Russian prowess. It is not for nothing that the main theme of this picture echoes the music from the scene near Kromy in the opera Boris Godunov.

An even greater affinity with Russian folk music, with images of epics is felt in the last picture - "Bogatyr Gates". Mussorgsky wrote this play inspired by Hartmann's architectural sketch City Gates in Kyiv. With its intonations and its harmonic language, the music is close to Russian folk songs. The character of the play is majestically calm and solemn. Thus, the last picture, symbolizing the power of the native people, naturally completes the entire cycle.

***
The fate of this piano cycle is very curious.
On the manuscript of "Pictures" there is an inscription "For publication. Mussorgsky. July 26, 74 Petrograd”, however, during the life of the composer, “Pictures” were not published or performed, although they received approval among the “Mighty Handful”. They were published only five years after the death of the composer by V. Bessel in 1886, in the edition of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov.

Cover of the first edition of Pictures at an Exhibition
Since the latter was sure that Mussorgsky's notes contained errors and omissions that needed to be corrected, this publication did not exactly correspond to the author's manuscript, it had a certain amount of editorial "brilliance". The circulation sold out, and a year later the second edition was published, already with a foreword by Stasov. However, the work did not receive wide popularity at that time, the pianists brushed aside it for a long time, not finding in it the “usual” virtuosity and considering it to be non-concert and non-piano. Soon, M. M. Tushmalov (1861-1896), with the participation of Rimsky-Korsakov, orchestrated the main parts of Pictures, the orchestral version was published, the premiere took place on November 30, 1891, and in this form they were quite often performed in St. Petersburg and Pavlovsk, and the final performed by the orchestra and as a separate piece. In 1900, an arrangement for piano four hands appeared, in February 1903, the cycle was first performed in Moscow by the young pianist G. N. Beklemishev, in 1905, “Pictures” were performed in Paris at a lecture by M. Calvocoressi about Mussorgsky.

But the recognition of the general public came only after Maurice Ravel, according to the same version of Rimsky-Korsakov, created his well-known orchestration in 1922, and in 1930 its first recording was released.

However, the cycle was written specifically for the piano!
For all the brilliance of Ravel's orchestration, he still lost those deeply Russian features of Mussorgsky's music, which are heard precisely in the piano performance.

And only in 1931, on the fiftieth anniversary of the composer's death, "Pictures at an Exhibition" were published in accordance with the author's manuscript in the academic publication "Muzgiz", and then they became an integral part of the repertoire of Soviet pianists.

Since then, two traditions of piano performance of "Pictures" have coexisted. Among the supporters of the original author's version are such pianists as Svyatoslav Richter (see above) and Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Others, like, for example, Vladimir Horowitz in his recordings and performances of the mid-20th century, tried to reproduce on the piano the orchestral embodiment of "Pictures", that is, to make a "reverse arrangement" of Ravel.

Piano: Vladimir Horowitz. Recorded: 1951
(00:00) 1. Promenade
(01:21) 2. The Gnome
(03:41) 3. Promenade
(04:31) 4. The Old Castle
(08:19) 5. Promenade
(08:49) 6. The Tuileries
(09:58) 7. Bydlo
(12:32) 8. Promenade
(13:14) 9. Ballet of Unhatched Chicks
(14:26) 10. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle
(16:44) 11. The Marketplace at Limoges
(18:02) 12. The Catacombs
(19:18) 13. Cum mortuis in lingua mortua
(21:39) 14. The Hut on Fowl's Legs (Baba-Yaga)
(24:56) 15. The Great Gate of Kiev

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Pictures from the exhibition with sand animation.

Rock version of Pictures at an Exhibition.

Wassily Kandinsky. Synthesis of Arts.
Kandinsky's step towards bringing the idea of ​​"monumental art" to life was the staging of "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Modest Mussorgsky "with its own scenery and with heroes - light, color and geometric shapes."
This was the first and only time he agreed to work from a finished score, which was a clear indication of his deepest interest.
The premiere on 4 April 1928 at the Friedrich Theater in Dessau was a resounding success. The music was played on the piano. The production was very cumbersome, because it meant constantly moving scenery and changing lighting of the hall, about which Kandinsky left detailed instructions. For example, one of them said that a black background was required, on which the “bottomless depths” of black should turn into purple, while dimmers (rheostats) did not yet exist.

"Pictures at an Exhibition" by Modest Mussorgsky has repeatedly inspired artists to create a moving video sequence. In 1963, ballet master Fyodor Lopukhov staged the ballet Pictures at an Exhibition at the musical theater of Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko. In the USA, Japan, France, the USSR, talented cartoons were created on the themes of Pictures at an Exhibition.

Nowadays, we can plunge into the “synthesis of arts” by attending a concert by the French pianist Mikhail Rud. In his famous project “Modest Mussorgsky / Wassily Kandinsky. "Pictures at an Exhibition" he combined the music of the Russian composer with abstract animation and video based on watercolors and instructions from Kandinsky.

The capabilities of the computer inspire artists to create 2D and 3D animations. Another of the most interesting experiments in creating "moving" paintings by Wassily Kandinsky.

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text from many sources