| Disc No: DUX 0858 |
Pictures at an Exhibition is perhaps the best known composition by Modest Mussorgsky (1839-1881). He wrote this suite of piano miniatures in 1874, following the sudden death of his close friend, the architect-painter Victor Hartmann. A memorial exhibition of the artist’s paintings was the source of creative inspiration for Mussorgsky. Writing the music was for him a vehicle for expressing his sorrow, at the same time immortalizing his friend’s name for future generations. It was a spontaneous outpouring of emotions, flowing like a river from under the composer’s hands. “Sound and ideas float in the air like roasted pigeons. I am devouring them and stuffing myself. My scribbling can hardly keep pace with them”, Mussorgsky wrote about his compositional process.
|
