Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition (version for Brass Band by Elgar Howarth)

Alfred Frankenstein, the scholar who dug up the pictures that might have inspired Mussorgsky from the Victor Hartmann exhibition, proposed in 1939 that it was Mussorgsky’s genius that gave stature to Hartmann’s talent and somewhat disappointing works. However, based on the fact that pianists such as Horowitz and Pletnev, and also figures such as Ravel, Sir Henry Wood, Stokowski and Ashkenazy all remade the piece through either pianistic or orchestral colours, there is clearly a view that Mussorgsky’s genius was at the same time let down by his technical proficiency of writing for the piano. Perhaps Mussorgsky’s true genius lies in his ability to show the natural inflections of the Russian language through the melodies of his songs. Either way, the exceptionally abundant corpus of the derivatives of ‘Pictures’ give us ample opportunity to take pleasure in what Peter Szendy described as “hearing other people’s hearing of a work” in his non-scholarly book Listen: a History of Our Ears.

The following is a description of the work itself. It should be noted, however, that the knowing of a fixed programme for the music does not necessarily facilitate a satisfactory listening experience. In fact, Sir Harrison Birtwistle once proposed in a masterclass here that it would be more interesting if the ‘Pictures’ doesn’t come with subtitles. Therefore, the information below is to be read at the discretion of the listener.

This suite is comprised of 10 numbered movements:

1. Gnomus,

2. Il vecchio castello (the old castle),

3. Tuileries (Dispute d’enfants après jeux) (Tuileries (Dispute between Children at Play)),

4. Bydło (Cattle),

5. Ballet of the unhatched chicks,

6. “Samuel” Goldenberg und “Schmuÿle”,

7. Limoges, le marché (La grande nouvelle) (The market at Limoges (The great news)),

8. Catacombæ (Sepulcrum romanum),

9. Baba-Yaga,

10. The great gates of Kiev

As a prelude and also as interludes that link up the numbers there are the promenade themes, which all come in different keys and different moods. Most of the numbers are self-explanatory, As to the others, No. 4 is said to be a picture of cattles pulling a cart, No. 6 is a representation of portraits of two Jews – one rich, one poor. No. 8 is the only picture which includes Hartmann himself, whose premature death was the reason for the exhibition, and shows him exploring Roman catacombs in Paris. The promenade that follows is subtitled con mortuis in lingua mortua – with the dead in a dead language. The Baba-Yaga is a witch from Slavic folklore and its hut has legs of a fowl. It should also be noted that some of the numbers lead on to the other without break.

February 2013