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Pictures at an Exhibition - Mussorgsky (1874)
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Pictures at an Exhibition

Modest Mussorgski had a painter friend called Victor Hartmann, and when he died, his friends made an exhibition of his best work. The excited Mussorgsky decided to immortalize his friend's memory by means of a "musical exhibition" of pictures for piano, describing the artist's paintings. Indeed, the composer designated "Pictures at an Exhibition" for the piano, and Maurice Ravel is the one who orchestrated the piece for a symphonic ensemble in 1923. This arrangement is the one performed nowadays in concert halls.

What links the "pictures" is a repeating musical section called "promenade". This section describes walking around in the exhibition, wandering between the pictures. The "promenade" is one of the best-known musical pieces in history, and it reminds us more of a formal, royal horn than a description of innocent walking in an exhibition. It is a very "Russian" section, and very typical of Mussorgsky's composition.

The ten pictures at the exhibition are:

Gnome
Describes a gnome walking in daring vanity.
The Old Castle
A wandering singer (a troubadour) sings a song of heroism to an ancient castle, praising its glorious days.
Tuileries
Children's games in a park in Paris.
Bydlo
A rural wagon in Poland, coming and vanishing into the horizon.
Ballet of the Little Chicks
According to a sketch Hartmann drew for a ballet group.
Samuel Goldenburg and Schumyle
A caricature of two Polish Jews, one rich and the other a pauper.
The Marketplace at Limoges
Noisy, haggling housewives in the famous marketplace.
Catacombs
A cemetery in Paris, and the atmosphere of death.
Hut of Baba Yaga
The fire of a mythological Russian witch named Baba Yaga.
The Great Gates at Kiev
A gate of a church Hartmann, who was also an architect, designed for Kiev's Cathedral.
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