To create this masterpiece, Mussorgsky was inspired by the tragic death of his good friend, Russian artist and architect Victor Hartmann. Devastated by his friend's death, Mussorgsky composed a set of piano pieces, inspired by an exhibition of the artist's work, as a tribute to Hartmann. It is through Mussorgsky's music that these paintings, most of which do not exist today, are still remembered.
The composition starts off with "Promenade", which appears several more times in the music and which is meant as a strolling music leading you through the gallery. The first picture is "Gnomus" ("gnome"), inspired by a sketch of a nutcracker: a fantastic lame figure on crooked little legs. The next picture "Il Vecchio Castello" ("The Old Castle") is based on an architectural sketch into which the painter had inserted a tiny troubadour for scale, reflected in the orchestration by the playing of the saxophone. From there, we promenade to a picture of a nanny taking care of some kids in the Tuileries in Paris, with the music illustrating children's games and laughs. The next picture "Bydlo" ("Cattle") creates a striking change of atmosphere and is based on a picture of a wagon with enormous wheels. Mussorgsky had in mind for this music a large cart pulled by a cattle and driven by an exhausted peasant. Then we move on to "The Ballet of the Unchanted Chicks", based on a sketch by Hartmann of some ballet costumes, where two people wear egg outfits with bird-head helmets, with the music sounding like little chickens running around with their heads cut. The next picture "Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle" is based on a pair of sketches of a wealthy and a poor man. Mussorgsky gives the rich man a deep and loud voice and depicts the poor man, by contrast, with a melody of repeated notes which reflect his shivering in the cold. Back to France the next picture, "Limoges", where the music illustrates the crowd chatting and quarrelling in a marketplace at Limoges. From the marketplace, we are transported to the "Catacombs: Roman Sepulcher", where Hartmann depicts the catacombs in Paris. The music is characterised by dissonant sounds, the alternation between soft and loud music, suggesting the echoing in the catacombs (a "tam tam" reflecting the language of the dead) and tremolo violins hinting the flickering light. The frightening mood persists in the next picture "The Hut on Hen's Legs", which is a Russian folklore about a witch ("Baba Yaga") who flies through the forests, searching for children to eat. The music is inspired by an ornate clock, having the shape of Baba Yaga's hut, and one hears the clock ticking, a symbol of mortality. The last picture of the exhibition "The Great Gate at Kiev" was designed by Hartmann to participate in an architectural composition. One can hear the sound of the bells, depicted on the picture, and the melody alternating with the Russian hymn.
Welcome to the gallery!