Duo Amie | Catacombs - Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Arranged for cello and piano by Charles Schiff @DuoAmie | Uploaded March 2020 | Updated October 2024, 18 hours ago.
Pictures at An Exhibition (Mussorgsky)
Despite now being his most well-known work, at the time of Mussorgsky’s death, his Pictures at an Exhibition had been neither published nor performed. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakove finished the manuscript and it was published in 1886. Based on ten drawings/watercolors by his friend Victor Hartmann (many of which have unfortunately been lost), the piece was originally written for piano solo. Ravel arranged the piece for orchestra in 1922. Several additional arrangements for various instruments have also been created, including this one for cello and piano by Charles Schiff.
Hartmann’s original watercolor for this movement has survived. According to Stasov “Hartmann represented himself examining the Paris catacombs by the light of a lantern”. This movement is in two separate parts. The first is ponderous Largo with loud chords, and a melancholy melody towards the end. The second section is Andante rather than Largo, and while still gloomy, evokes more movement than the first section, and brings the promenade theme back.
Duo Amie Presents Melodic Canvases
Julie Reimann, CelloEllyses Kuan, Piano
Recorded on November 3, 2018 at Longyear Museum
Pictures at An Exhibition (Mussorgsky)
Despite now being his most well-known work, at the time of Mussorgsky’s death, his Pictures at an Exhibition had been neither published nor performed. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakove finished the manuscript and it was published in 1886. Based on ten drawings/watercolors by his friend Victor Hartmann (many of which have unfortunately been lost), the piece was originally written for piano solo. Ravel arranged the piece for orchestra in 1922. Several additional arrangements for various instruments have also been created, including this one for cello and piano by Charles Schiff.
Hartmann’s original watercolor for this movement has survived. According to Stasov “Hartmann represented himself examining the Paris catacombs by the light of a lantern”. This movement is in two separate parts. The first is ponderous Largo with loud chords, and a melancholy melody towards the end. The second section is Andante rather than Largo, and while still gloomy, evokes more movement than the first section, and brings the promenade theme back.
Duo Amie Presents Melodic Canvases
Julie Reimann, CelloEllyses Kuan, Piano
Recorded on November 3, 2018 at Longyear Museum
