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PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION
SET WORK FOR CXC MUSICListening and Appraising (LIAP)
Orchestrated By: Maurice Ravel
THE COMPOSERS
• MODEST MUSSORGSKY (21 March 1839 – 28 March 1881)• Other Sources state: 9 March 1839- 16 March 1881
• Russian• From the Romantic period.
THE COMPOSERS (CONTD.)
• JOSEPH- MAURICE RAVEL (March 7, 1875 – December 28,
1937)• French• From the 20th Century line
of composers specificallyIMPRESSIONIST.
ABOUT THE WORK
• Pictures at an Exhibition is a suite in ten movements composed for piano by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874.
• It was composed in six weeks.
• Orchestration by Ravel began in May of 1922 and completed later that Fall.
ABOUT THE WORK (CONTD.)
Viktor Hartmann
•The music depicts an imaginary tour of an art collection.
•Titles of individual movements allude to works by artist and architect Viktor Hartmann a good friend of the composer.
INSTRUMENTATION
• Piccolo• 2 Flutes• 2 Oboes• English Horn• 2 Clarinets• Bass Clarinets• 2 Bassoons
• Contra Bassoon• Alto Saxophone• 4 French Horns• 3 Trumpets• 3 Trombones• Tuba• Timpani
INSTRUMENTATION (CONTD.)
PERCUSSION• Glockenspiel• Tubular Bells• Triangle• Rattle• Whip• Cymbals• Tambourine• Bass Drum
• Xylophone• Gong
_______________• Strings• Piano• 2 Harps• Celesta
THE ORCHESTRA SETUP
THE FAMILIES •STRINGS
•WOODWIND•BRASS
•PERCUSSION
THE STRINGS• Violin • Viola• Cello
• Double Bass
THE VIOLIN
THE VIOLA
VIOLIN VS VIOLA
THE CELLO
THE CELLO PLAYER
THE DOUBLE BASS
DOUBLE BASS PLAYER
THE HARP
THE HARP PLAYER
THE WOODWINDS
• Piccolo• Flute• Clarinet• Oboe
• English Horn• Bassoon• Saxophone
THE PICCOLO
THE PICCOLO PLAYER
THE FLUTE
THE FLUTE PLAYER
THE CLARINET
THE CLARINETTIST
THE OBOE
THE OBOIST
THE ENGLISH HORN
THE BASSOON
BASSOON PLAYER
OBOE VS ENGLISH HORN VS BASSOON
THE ALTO SAXOPHONE
ALTO SAXOPHONIST
THE BRASS• Cornet• Trumpet• Trombone• Tuba
• French Horn
THE CORNET
THE TRUMPET
TRUMPET PLAYER
THE TROMBONE
TROMBONE PLAYER
THE TUBA
TUBA PLAYER
THE FRENCH HORN
FRENCH HORN PLAYER
THE PERCUSSION• Timpani• Bass Drum• Triangle• Xylophone• Glockenspiel
• Tubular Bells• Gong• Whip• Rattle
• Tambourine
THE TIMPANI
THE BASS DRUM
THE TRIANGLE
THE XYLOPHONE
THE GLOCKENSPIEL
THE TUBULAR BELLS
THE GONG
THE WHIP
THE RATTLE
THE TAMBOURINE
THE CYMBALS
THE KEYBOARDS
• Piano• Celesta
THE PIANO
THE CELESTA
THE ORCHESTRA
ABOUT THE ERAS
• Linage: – Early Music: Medieval & Renaissance– Baroque– Classical– Romantic– 20th Century: Impressionist– 21st Century
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROMANTIC ERA
• Romantic (1830 - 1920)– Music from the Romantic period is characterized by its
much greater passion and expression than that of earlier periods. Romantic works display an expansion of form (like the key and instrumentation of a piece).
– Characteristics of Romantic music include:• Freer form and more personal expression of emotion• Emphasis on lyrical melodies and themes• More modulation (change in key) to unexpected keys: the
overall effect of this is that it is harder for the listener to predict what will happen next in the piece
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROMANTIC ERA (CONTD.)
• More chromaticism and scales other than major/minor• Greater variety in pitch, dynamics, and rhythm• Less traditional chord progressions• Program music: more pieces inspired by literary/artistic
sources• Greater emphasis on nationalism: many composers
infused cultural songs or dances into their works
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 20TH CENTURY ERA
• Contemporary (1920 - present):– The most conspicuous differentiation between
classical music in the Contemporary period and in previous periods is the shift in tone. Whereas music from the Common Practice Period was largely tonal, much Contemporary music is atonal.
– Contemporary classical music can be divided into:• 20th-century Contemporary Classical Music:
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 20TH CENTURY ERA (CONTD.)
• Tone Colour:• During the 20th century, tone colour has become a more
important element of music then it was ever before. It has a major role: creating variety, continuity and mood.
• In modern music, noise-like and percussive sounds are often used and instruments are often played at the very top or the very bottom of their register. Uncommon playing techniques have become normal. Flutter-tongueing and other special techniques are also employed to make 20th century music distinctive.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 20TH CENTURY ERA (CONTD.)
• Percussion instruments rose in importance in the 20th century. 20th century composers are interested in unusual rhythms. Celestas, wood block and xylophone are a few. Composers sometimes made use of noise makers such as sirens and typewriters to add colour to the music. Piano is no longer used to provide the lyrical and singing tone of the Romantic. They are now used for percussive or Jazz effect.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 20TH CENTURY ERA (CONTD.)
• Modern orchestral and chamber works often sound transparent. Individual tone colours are heard clearly. To bring the individuality of the different melodic lines that are played simultaneously. The composer will also assign different parts to instruments of different timbre in order to bring out their colours.
• In the 20th century, instruments are not place into strict groups. Usage of instruments are all up to the composer's whim. It may be as little as 1 person and it may be as much as one thousand.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 20TH CENTURY ERA (CONTD.)
• Harmony:• Consonance are no longer in use in the 20th century. Dissonance became
very important an infact most of the piece is made up of dissonant chords. in the 20th century one would not get the final fufillment one expects. On the whole, 20th century music sound fantasy like, distant and mystifying.
• • Chord Structures:• Chords are never as fundemental as it is in previous centuries. Polychords
are created by placing one traditional chord over another.• Fourth chords are also employed they are chords made up of notes that are
a fourth apart instead of the usual three.• Tone cluster is also created. Chords are made up of notes who are
semitones apart it can be produced by striking on the piano a group of adjacent keys.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 20TH CENTURY ERA (CONTD.)
• Rhythm:• The rhythmic vocabulary of the 20th century was exoanded with
increased emphasis on irregularity and unpredictability. Meters can change every bar or so having an effect of imbalance.
• We may count:1-2-3-4-5, 1-2-3, 1-2-3-4-5, 1-2-3 and so on.• Polyrhythm may also be employed. It is similar to Brahm's cross
rhythms with one voice playing 1-2, 1-2 and the other voice playing 1-2-3, 1-2-3.
• Melody:• Melody is very elusive in the 20th century. Composers advocated
atonality ( non-melodic sort of composition ) and melodies that can be sung or hummed is very few.
MOVEMENTS IN THE WORK• Promenade I• 1. Gnomus (The Gnome) • Promenade II• 2. Il Vecchio Castello (The Old
Castle)• Promenade III• 3. Tuileries (Children Quarrelling
After Play) • 4. Bydlo (Cattle)• Promenade IV• 5. Ballet des poussins dans leurs
coques (Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks
• 6. Deux juifs l’un riche et l’autre pauvre (Two Jews one rich and one poor)
• Promenade V (omitted in orchestral version)
• 7. Limoges Le Marché (Limoges Market)
• 8. Catacombae• 9. La cabane sur des pattes de
poule (The hut on Chicks legs)• 10. La grande porte (the front door)
• Movements in Focus.
LISTENING TO THE WORK
ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS
PROMENADE• Key: B-flat major• Meter: originally 11/4. Published editions
alternate 5/4 and 6/4.• Tempo: Allegro giusto, nel modo russico; senza
allegrezza, ma poco sostenuto• The only movement with a full structure
established (ABA?)
ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS (CONTD.)
PROMENADE• Stasov comment: In this piece Mussorgsky depicts
himself "roving through the exhibition, now leisurely, now briskly in order to come close to a picture that had attracted his attention, and at times sadly, thinking of his departed friend."
• The melody and rhythm resemble Russian folk songs. The piece has simple, strong rhythms in asymmetrical meter
ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS (CONTD.)
NO. 1 "GNOMUS“ (The Gnome)• Key: E-flat minor• Meter: 3/4• Tempo: alternating "Vivo" and "Meno mosso,
pesante"• Stasov comment: "A sketch depicting a little
gnome, clumsily running with crooked legs."
ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS (CONTD.)
NO. 1 "GNOMUS“ (The Gnome)• Hartmann's sketch, now lost, is thought to
represent a design for a nutcracker displaying large teeth. The lurching music, in contrasting tempos with frequent stops and starts, suggests the movements of the gnome.
ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS (CONTD.)
[UNTITLED] (INTERLUDE, PROMENADE THEME)• Key: A-flat major• Meter: alternating 5/4 and 6/4• Tempo: "Moderato commodo assai e con
delicatezza"• A placid statement of the promenade melody
depicts the viewer walking from one display to the next.
ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS (CONTD.)
NO. 2 "IL VECCHIO CASTELLO” (The Old Castle)• Key: G-sharp minor• Meter: 6/8• Tempo: "Andante molto cantabile e con dolore"• Stasov comment: "A medieval castle before which a
troubadour sings a song."• This movement is thought to be based on a watercolor
depiction of an Italian castle. Hartmann often placed appropriate human figures in his architectural renderings to suggest scale.
ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS (CONTD.)
[UNTITLED] (INTERLUDE, PROMENADE THEME)• Key: B major.• Meter: alternating 5/4 and 6/4• Tempo: "Moderato non tanto, pesamente"• Another brief statement of the promenade
melody (8 measures) gives it more extroversion and weight than before.
ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS (CONTD.)
NO. 3 "TUILERIES" (DISPUTE D'ENFANTS APRÈS JEUX) :- (Dispute between Children at Play)
• Key: B major• Meter: 4/4• Tempo: "Allegretto non troppo, capriccioso"• Stasov comment: "An avenue in the garden of
the Tuileries, with a swarm of children and nurses."
ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS (CONTD.)
NO. 3 "TUILERIES" (DISPUTE D'ENFANTS APRÈS JEUX) :- (Dispute between Children at Play)
• Hartmann's picture of the Jardin des Tuileries near the Louvre in Paris (France) is now lost. Figures of children quarrelling and playing in the garden were likely added by the artist for scale (see note on No. 2 above).
• The movement is cast in through-composed ternary form (ABA).
ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS (CONTD.)
NO. 4 "BYDŁO“ (Cattle)• Key: G-sharp minor• Meter: 2/4• Tempo: Sempre moderato, pesante.• Stasov comment: "A Polish cart on enormous wheels, drawn
by oxen."• The movement is cast in through-composed ternary form
(ABA) with coda. Mussorgsky's original piano version of this movement begins fortissimo (ff), suggesting that the lumbering oxcart's journey begins in the listener's foreground.
ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS (CONTD.)
NO. 4 "BYDŁO“ (Cattle)• After reaching a climax (con tutta forza) the dynamic
marking is abruptly piano (bar 47), followed by a diminuendo to a final pianissimo (ppp), suggesting the oxcart receding into the distance. Arrangements based on Rimsky-Korsakov's edition, such as Ravel's, begin quietly, build gradually (crescendo) to fortissimo, and then undergo a diminuendo, suggesting the oxcart approaching, passing the listener, and then receding.
ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS (CONTD.)
[UNTITLED] (INTERLUDE, PROMENADE THEME)• Key: D minor• Meter: alternating 5/4, 6/4, 7/4• Tempo: "Tranquillo"• A reflective 10-measure presentation of the
promenade theme.
ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS (CONTD.)
NO. 5 "БАЛЕТЪ НЕВЫЛУПИВШИХСЯ ПТЕНЦОВЪ" [BALET NEVYLUPIVSHIKHSYA PTENTSOV]
(Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks)
• Key: F major• Meter: 2/4 time• Tempo: "Scherzino (vivo, leggiero)"• Stasov comment: "Hartmann's design for the décor
of a picturesque scene in the ballet Trilby."
ABOUT THE MOVEMENTS (CONTD.)
NO. 5 "БАЛЕТЪ НЕВЫЛУПИВШИХСЯ ПТЕНЦОВЪ" [BALET NEVYLUPIVSHIKHSYA PTENTSOV]
(Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks)
• Gerald Abraham provides the following details: "Trilby or The Demon of the Heath, a ballet with choreography by Petipa, music by Julius Gerber, and décor by Hartmann... produced in 1870. The fledglings were canary chicks."
• The movement is cast in ternary form (ABA) with a literal repeat and terse extension (coda).
SCORE ANALYSIS FOR MORE DETAILS WHILE
LISTENING TO THE WORK
