Music composed from personal experience is always way more emotional and touching. And if this experience is a sad, or even tragic, the power of the piece becomes undeniable.
Such was the mournful experience Modest Mussorgsky had to come over – the loss of a close friend, Russian painter Victor Hartmann who shared composer's passion for Russian art and died at an early age of 39. Mussorgsky was so attached to this person that commemorated his creative work in his music. “Pictures at an Exhibition” were composed based on Hartmann’s paintings put on exhibition after his death.
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| Chicks Sketch for Trilby Ballet. V. Hartmann |
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| Paris Catacombs. V. Hartmann |
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| The Poor Jew. V. Hartmann |
The suite consists of 10 movements that depict Mussorgsky’s vision of the 10 relative drawings. Imbued with personal emotional experience, the suite soon became a showwork for all great pianists to follow. It’s been arranged, performed and recorded many times (Maurice Ravel’s version being the most popular) but there are interpretations that are still worth having a listen. My favorite arrangement of “Pictures at an Exhibition” is written for a string orchestra by Arkadi Troitsky. The video features the suite performed by the National Philarmonic of Russia.
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