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Category Archives: Pictures at an Exhibition
All Hands on Deck – including Liszt’s and Rachmaninoff’s. The Paraphrases, and Two Pieces for Piano 6 hands.
It’s New Year’s Eve, 6.50am, and time to write the final post of 2016. Thank you, dear Reader, for sharing this journey through Mussorgsky’s Pictures and other Russian musical curiosities with me. The penultimate work in this series of blogposts … Continue reading
Posted in Pictures at an Exhibition
Tagged Borodin, Cui, Liszt, Paraphrases, Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergei Rachmaninoff
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A Show of Hands – Rachmaninoff – for Four Hands
Following on from Scriabin’s pieces for left hand alone, let’s look now at his friend Rachmaninoff’s works for four hands at one piano, and for four hands at two pianos. The Six Morceaux Op 11, for piano duet, were written … Continue reading
Give us a Hand
It has been a pleasure this year to perform in concerts which have included not only solo works for two hands, but works for one hand – and to be joined by pianist friends in works for four hands, five, six and … Continue reading
Posted in Pictures at an Exhibition
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Exit – via The Great Gate of Kiev
We’ve come to the end of the Exhibition, and Mussorgsky has saved the grandest musical picture to the last. It’s usually known as The Great Gate of Kiev, but the original title was The Bohatyr-Gate of Kiev; all who viewed this … Continue reading
Posted in Pictures at an Exhibition
Tagged Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, The Great Gate of Kiev
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The Hut on Fowl’s Legs. Baba Yaga – the Russian witch
Just as Red Riding Hood has a wolf, Narnia has the White Witch, Harry Potter has Voldemort and everywhere has a bogeyman, fairy tales and children’s stories the world over have a villain, and Russian folktales are no exception. In Russian … Continue reading
Posted in Pictures at an Exhibition
Tagged Baba Yaga, Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition
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Promenade. Overground and Underground in France: The Market at Limoges; Catacombae, Sepulchrum Romanum
Mussorgsky promenades again, this time in a grand repetition of the very first Promenade at the beginning of the work, with a few subtle alterations and even more breadth. He is reasserting his own presence, and reminding us both of … Continue reading
Two Paintings – one Picture. Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle
Again we are privileged to be able to view the two paintings which inspired the next piece in Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. They belonged to Mussorgsky; Hartmann himself had presented them to him, and Mussorgsky lent them to the exhibition. … Continue reading
Cattle and chickens: Bydlo, Promenade, The Ballet of the Unhatched Chickens in their Shells
We’re roughly thrust across countries, classes and cultures into a world of harsh brutality in the next piece, ‘Bydlo’, the Polish word for cattle. The painting, now lost, showed a Polish cart on huge wooden wheels, drawn by oxen. We … Continue reading
Promenade; Tuileries – Fun and Games in the Gardens
After the shadowed reverie induced by Il Vecchio Castello, it’s as if Mussorgsky needs a brisk walk to shake himself up a little. The final G# is used as a pivot to turn us into the bright sunshine of B major … Continue reading
Posted in Composers, Pictures at an Exhibition
Tagged Moussorgsky, Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, Promenade, Tuileries
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Face to Face with Mussorgsky – via a Picture at an Exhibition
In a chance conversation after a recent recital at which I performed Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, an audience member reminded me about the current exhibition, Russia and the Arts: The Age of Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky at the National Portrait … Continue reading
Posted in Pictures at an Exhibition
Tagged Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition, Stasov
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