Modest Mussorgsky was born in Karevo, district of Pskov, Russia, on March 21, 1839, and died in St. Petersburg, Russia, on March 28, 1881. The first performance of the Maurice Ravel orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (originally composed for piano solo) took place in Paris, France, on May 3, 1923, Serge Koussevitsky conducting. The Ravel orchestration is scored for three flutes (2nd and 3rd doubling piccolo), three oboes (3rd doubling English horn), two clarinets, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, two bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, xylophone, orchestra bells, triangle, snare drum, whip, chime in E-flat, ratchet, tam-tam, cymbals, suspended cymbal, bass drum, two harps, celesta and strings. Approximate performance time is thirty-five minutes.
In 1873, Russian artist Viktor Hartmann died at the age of 39. After Hartmann’s death, the St. Petersburg Society of Architects presented an exhibition of Hartmann’s works. Among the attendees was Hartmann’s dear friend, the Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky.
Mussorgsky was as profoundly impressed with the quality of Hartmann’s works as he was saddened by his friend’s passing. Mussorgsky decided to offer a tribute to Hartmann in the form of a musical representation of several of the pieces of art featured at the St. Petersburg exhibit. In 1874, Modest Mussorgsky completed his work for solo piano, Pictures at an Exhibition, published after the composer’s death in 1881.
Conductor Serge Koussevitsky commissioned Maurice Ravel’s orchestration of the Mussorgsky piano composition for the annual Paris Concerts Koussevitsky, where it premiered, to great acclaim, on May 3, 1923. Since that time, the Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition has been celebrated as a quintessential showpiece for orchestras and conductors alike. It is one of the most performed and recorded works in the concert repertoire.
Promenade. Allegro giusto, nel modo russico; senza allegrezza, ma poco sostenuto—The Promenade serves as a connecting motif between musical portrayals of the various pictures. Russian music critic Vladimir Stassov described the promenade as depicting the composer “moving now to the left, now to the right, now wandering about aimlessly, now eagerly making for one of the pictures...”
I. Gnomus. Vivo—Many of Hartmann’s works disappeared during the period between the 1874 St. Petersburg exhibition and Ravel’s 1923 orchestration of Mussorgsky’s composition. In the original piano edition, Stassov describes Hartmann’s work: “A dwarf walks about awkwardly on crooked little legs.” However, Alfred Frankenstein, longtime Music and Art Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, engaged in a detailed search and study of the original Hartmann pictures. Frankenstein stated: “(t)he picture was a design for a nutcracker in the form of a gnome with huge jaws.”
Promenade—A more introspective statement of the Promenade theme serves as a bridge to the following picture.
II. Il vecchio castello. Andante—The painting depicts an old Italian castle, before which a lute-bearing troubadour stands.
Promenade. Moderato non tanto, pesamente—A brief, weighty restatement of the Promenade leads to:
III. Tuileries. Allegretto non troppo, capriccioso—Mussorgsky’s own subtitle for this section is “Children Quarreling After Play.” The painting depicts the Parisian Tuileries gardens, where children play under the watchful eye of their nurses.
IV. Bydlo. Sempre moderato pesante—“Bydlo” is the Polish word for “cattle.” Hartmann’s watercolor depicts an ox-drawn cart with massive wooden wheels.
Promenade. Tranquillo—A short reprise of the Promenade serves as a bridge to:
V. Ballet of the Chicks in Their Shells. Scherzino. Vivo leggiero—The sketch that inspired this delightful miniature scherzo was made by Hartmann for the ballet, Trilby. It features costumed children impersonating chicks newly emerging from their shells.
VI. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle. Andante—The title of this section is the creation of Stassov—Mussorgsky’s original reads: “Two Polish Jews; one rich, the other poor.” This episode appears to be based upon a Hartmann drawing of the Sandomir ghetto.
Here, Ravel omits Mussorgsky’s repetition of the Promenade and proceeds to:
VII. The Market Place in Limoges. Allegretto vivo, sempre scherzando—Hartmann’s watercolor portrays the façade of the Limoges Cathedral. Mussorgsky focused on a small portion of the watercolor that shows market women engaged in lively conversation. The quicksilver musical portrayal of their gossip is interrupted by:
VIII. Catacombae, Sepulchrum Romanum. Largo—The painting depicts Hartmann and a friend standing in a Paris catacomb, observing a pile of skulls illuminated by a guide’s lantern. Juxtaposed loud and soft brass pronouncements lead directly to:
Cum mortuis in lingua mortua. Andante non troppo, con lamento—Mussorgsky’s own footnote to this section’s title reads: “A Latin text: ‘With the Dead in a Dead Language.’ Well may it be in Latin! The creative spirit of the departed Hartmann leads me to the skulls, calls out to them, and the skulls begin to glow dimly from within.”
A moment of silence is shattered by:
IX. The Hut on Hen’s Legs (Baba-Yaga). Allegro con brio, féroce—Andante mosso—Allegro molto—Baba-Yaga is a mythical Russian witch who lures victims into her hut. There, Baba-Yaga grinds her prey’s bones with a giant mortar that she also uses to transport herself through the air. Hartmann’s drawing is a representation of a huge clock in the shape of the witch’s hut that, according to legend, stands on four chicken feet, thereby allowing the quick capture of each new victim. Mussorgsky’s depiction of the witch’s grotesque hut and her flight leads without pause to:
X. The Great Gate of Kiev. Allegro alla breve. Maestoso. Con grandezza—The final picture represented Hartmann’s entry in a competition to erect a gateway in Kiev. The gateway was intended to serve as a memorial to Tsar Alexander II’s escape from assassination. Hartmann envisioned a massive and ornate structure, featuring a cupola in the form of a Slavonic war helmet. Mussorgsky’s music, enhanced by Ravel’s orchestration, evokes the epic grandeur of Hartmann’s design, as well as images of ceremonial processions through the majestic gate.
Program notes by Ken Meltzer