Russian Imagery

Modest Mussorgsky was born today in Russia. He was an important part of "The Five" Russian composers (see blog for January 2). His music contains both the grotesque and the majestic. Probably most people know him for his tone poem, "Night on the Bald Mountain", popularized by Disney in the original Fantasia movie. I don't think this piece is very uplifting, so aside from linking you to an impressive piano version here, I'll focus instead on my favorite work of Mussorgsky's, Pictures at an Exhibition.

This is a set of piano pieces he wrote after viewing a collection of paintings done by his friend Victor Hartmann, who had died at the young age of 39. Mussorgsky uses one theme over and over throughout the pieces, and calls it "Promenade". It is a beautiful melody, but has awkward timing, meant to depict the composer himself walking to each picture (he was very overweight and walked with an awkward gait). Each Promenade, although containing the same melody, has a very different mood, since each painting he viewed changed what he felt for that moment. Each piece depicts a painting of Hartmann's, and the ones we know about can be viewed here.

The following links are of the entire set of the pictures, divided into 4 videos:

- Promenade - The Gnome - Promenade - The Old Castle
- Promenade - Children Disputing While at Play - Polish Oxcart - Promenade - Dance of the Unhatched Chicks - Goldenberg & Schmuyle (Two Jews: One Rich, One Poor)
- Gossip/Bickering at a French Marketplace - Catacombs
- The Hut on Chicken's Legs (Baba Yaga) - The Great Gate of Kiev

These are amazing pieces with vivid imagery and colors, beautiful melodies, and wide dynamic ranges. It is made even more impressive than the original piano version Mussorgsky wrote by the masterful orchestration done by composer Maurice Ravel. Hope you enjoy them!