April: Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition

[Jared]

Hi Jared,

I am getting building work done

James

here's hoping your building work goes well James; don't worry, these notes will be here for all use, permanently...

[fergus]

OK, I have finally embarked on my in depth study of this work. I have decided that I will do exactly as Jared has asked and I will therefore be led blindly in whatever direction he chooses to take me. Therefore I am starting by extracting all of the “promenade bits” and listening to them in isolation.

I knew what these Promenades signified but coupled with the excellent notes provided I was able to do what I like to do with programme music, that is to conjure up my own images in my mind of the suggested depictions of what the composer may have intended.

Yes I now have a picture of Moussorgsky arriving at the gallery, striding up the steps and entering into some grand hall, surrounded by all of his friend’s pictures and I can then see him ambling along and cursorily viewing and sometimes stopping to view a particular painting in more detail.

Progress has definitely been made and I look forward to listening to and looking at the Pictures in more detail.

[Jared]

OK, I am starting by extracting all of the “promenade bits” and listening to them in isolation.

that's great Fergus... my idea here was that by listening to them side by side, the subtle musical differences in each passage, based on the impact of the intervening pictures, may come into view more clearly..

[fergus]

Painting 1: ‘Gnomus’:

My Listen: The music to me certainly suggest the frantic, irregular scurrying of a small gnome brought to life as he runs through the undergrowth from tree to tree. The scrambled ‘scurrying’ sounds are clearly interspersed with moments of melody which build to a mini-crescendo and fall once more, to suggest ever more strident footsteps before running for cover, culminating in a final, anarchic dance during the last 10 seconds.

I certainly get the sense of the gnome scurrying around but I also detect a sense of the sinister there as well; just something a little eerie from time to time. That gnome is definitely up to no good!

Painting 2: ‘Il vecchio castello’ (The Old Castle):

My Listen: The overall tone of the piece is meant to suggest introspection and a melancholy beauty, as the castle nestles majestically amidst a picturesque valley. You can quite clearly hear the mournful, melancholic strains of the minstrel as he sings alone, perhaps unheard by others, at the imposing medieval gate, growing in turns, quieter and louder, before his song is terminated by the final notes.

What I particularly hear in this scene is the plaintive lament sung by the troubadour. It is played very tenderly by Richter in my version. I do not get so much a sense of the old castle; perhaps I need to retune my visualisation. I just think that melody is beautiful irrespective of whatever image it is conjuring up in my mind.

Painting 3: ‘The Tuileries Gardens’ (A dispute between children at play):

My Listen: The underlying 1-2 theme here, represents the walk of the nurses/ nannies as they wheel push chairs through the park. Mussorgsky cleverly interrupts this ‘promenade’ with the scurrying (contrast the playful, lighthearted scurry here with the more furtive, erratic scurry of the gnome) of the children randomly across the lawn, onto the path, bumping into the adult figures as they go. As the piece builds in tempo, the rising staccato notes give way to scrambled notes, representing playful arguments amongst the children, perhaps over toys or winning & losing a game.

I can definitely see those prim nannies pushing the elegant perambulators down the sunny avenues of the Tuileries and those happy children running around, shouting and spoiling the afternoon solitude for everyone!!

[Jared]

How does everyone feel they are doing with the pictures in the gallery, so far?

I do appreciate I've put up a number of lengthy posts, so I don't want to march on over to the Marketplace at Limoges, until everyone feels confident with what they've seen so far...

many thanks to Fergus for his helpful comments... would anyone else like to give a progress report before we resume in a day or two's time?

[Diapason]

I don't know when I became aware of Pictures at an Exhibition (ok I'm lying, "King" Harley Race used The Great Gate of Kiev as his entrance music for WWF matches: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9f305LS ... ure=relmfu) but I know when it entered my consciousness as a piano piece, and that was during the 1991 GPA Dublin piano competition. RTE showed footage of all the semi-final recitals, and quite a few of the competitors played "Pictures...". I fell in love with the work immediately, I loved its variety and its virtuosity, and since in those days I had no sense of my own limitations I immediately bought the score and decided I'd learn to play it.

The score remains in my possession, and while it's been dipped into on many occasions in the intervening 20 years, it remains decidedly unlearned!! Still, that initial sense of accessibility remains every time I look at the music. "This doesn't look too difficult" I think, only to be chastened for the umpteenth time as I try to skip my way around Tuileries or dance with the chicks in their shells. That apparent simplicity on the page translates to the listener experience: this is very direct music, I don't think there are huge hidden depths to be plumbed, and this makes it simultaneously very easy and very difficult for a performer to interpret. Perhaps this is why both of the (piano) recordings I own see the pianists being somewhat cavalier with the details. It doesn't work for me as a listener, but I'll come to the specifics of the recordings I own later. Suffice to say that if Mussorgsky has bothered to put dynamic markings or staccato dots or whatever into the music, I find it baffling when performers just ignore them with no apparent "improvement" to the intended effect.

The downside of such a clearly laid-out work, containing bitesize morsels of obvious intent, is that it can fail to satisfy longer-term. As I've grown to know it, I feel it's like a jar of sweets: fine for an occasional indulgence, but no substitute for a good meal. I wonder will I feel the same way by the end of the month?

[fergus]

Nice post Simon. I must admit that it has not worked for me as a listener to date but I have come to like it the more that I delve into it here. I certainly have a greater appreciation for the pieces, that is for sure. I am looking forward to the direct comparison between the original piano version and the orchestral version later on; something that, due to previous lack of interest, I have not done before.

[fergus]

Painting 4: ‘Cattle’ (Polish):

My listen: The deep, decisive 1-2, 1-2 with the left hand in the lower register effectively sums up the continuous drudgery of servitude, as the team of oxen relentlessly pull their way through the muddy streets, past the onlooker. The ensuing higher notes suggest for me that a certain grace and elegance is attained by these beasts, in their pursuit. After (around the) 0.50 mark, a 2nd more delicate supporting theme in a higher register is introduced, as onlookers from the marketplace regard these noble beasts with a passive admiration as they pass by. The themes are fused together until 2.00, when the original 1-2 theme once again takes over, gradually receding in volume as the oxen and dray disappear into the distance.

I certainly buy into the image of the cart being pulled by some powerful animals. I really like the effect of the cart fading into the distance as it passes the onlooker by; it is like a sonic 3D effect!

Painting 5: ‘The Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks’:

My listen: This brief piece opens and closes with a loosely structured, punched 1-2-3-4 in the upper register, suggestive of children frantically dancing uncoordinated steps around a stage, as canary chicks desperate to relieve themselves of their shells. The 2nd part of the ternary structure is introduced at 0.26, suggestive of a moderate elegance as they glide around the stage; perhaps they are reserving a little energy for the final push after 0.48 which gradually rises to a decisive crescendo of broken, dislocated notes.

This section indeed conjures up a somewhat surreal image of unhatched chicks running around blindly and wildly. I think that Richter catches the sense of urgency and chaos very well in his performance.

[Jared]

Painting 8: ‘The Marketplace at Limoges’:

Key: E-flat major; Tempo: “Allegretto vivo, sempre scherzando” [1.23]



Although this is another lost picture, Stasov comments: ‘Women quarrelling violently in the marketplace’. The 2nd of three pictures included with a French theme, was taken from sketches Hartmann made of the marketplace in Limoges where he stayed during his three years of travelling through France.

The movement is a scherzo in through-composed ternary form, terminating in a scurrying coda which leads directly into the next picture (The Catacombs) without a break. The piece is evocative of a lively bustling marketplace, dominated by farmwives haggling, arguing and scurrying about their daily business; indeed on the original score, Mussorgsky actually included sections signifying ‘gossip’, which he later deleted.

This picture of the 20th century marketplace in Limoges is therefore quite poignant in depicting how much has changed on the one hand, yet how much hasn’t, on the other!



My listen: The marketplace theme opens with the frantic yet orderly scampering of women, doing their daily rounds amongst the street vendors. At around 0.24, conversation can be heard by way of a rapid trill from the right hand; the sharp notes readily suggestive of cross words and disagreement which gives way to a more full scale argument at 0.48, with rapid, strident forceful notes, which quickly tails off into a return to the scurrying around the stalls. The slightly slower paced, more deliberate notes in the coda for me seem to suggest Mussorgsky taking a step back and offering us a broader panorama of the market-place, before he abruptly crashes into the Catacombs; the work having suddenly caught his eye on the gallery wall.

[fergus]

Paintings 6 & 7: ‘Samuel Goldenberg & Schmuyle’:

My listen: Samuel Goldenberg’s introduction is made with clear, decisive notes to suggest the form of a grand, structured and coherent argument about his own point of view and social status. This is cut short at 0.40 by the introduction of a lighter, more fragile voice; that of the poverty of Schmuyle, whose whining entreaties to consider his lot in life are made with softer notes in the higher register. By 1.18 however, Goldenberg has heard enough, as his thundering voice returns to talk over Schmuyle as he recaps on his views of his own status and importance, before 1.50 where the mournful, slightly discordant coda makes way for a reprise of the ‘promenade’ theme.

The two voices are indeed very distinct both in tone and attitude. The contrast is very pronounced between the self assured Goldenberg and the plaintive, pleading Schmuyle; all the more so when the two themes merge and the Goldenberg voice dominates.