# Mussorgsky!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mussorgsky/201328>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [September 13, 2003, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mussorgsky/201328 "2003-09-13T03:23:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mussorgsky/201328/21 "2003-09-14T15:21:06Z")

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Ahhh - **Pictures at an Exhibition**

Let’s see - I have the ELP version, the orchestral version, the piano version, and the [Tomita](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000026F72/qid=1063553312/sr=1-5/ref=sr_1_5/103-7683115-3333427?v=glance&s=music) version (70’s Japanese synthesizer artist).

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**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mussorgsky/201328/22 "2003-09-14T20:55:27Z")

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Just chiming in to join the defence of _Scheherazade_…

I like it for much the same reason I like Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”–it’s composed of different stories, each of which is represented by its own music (rather like how each painting in “Pictures” has its own song). And, just as the different stories in “Pictures” are tied together by a repeating motif (the “promenade” or walking from one picture to the next), Scheherazade’s stories are all connected by the motif of the solo violin (representing Scheherazade’s voice as she tells the stories).

The music in both pieces varies from one story to the next, and I prefer some passages more than others… but on the whole, I find both compositions to be extremely powerful. Indeed, _Scheherazade_ starts off pretty bombastically, and then the tone changes back and forth throughout. Furthermore, the original piano score to “Pictures” is much more subtle (though still very powerful) than the orchestral version.

And after reading this thread, now I’ve got Scheherazade’s violin stuck in my head. _humming and tapping away_

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**Author:** ![Chief\_Crunch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Chief\_Crunch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Crunch)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mussorgsky/201328/23 "2003-09-14T21:17:47Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eonwe \*  
> \*\*Pictures at an Exhibition was written after Mussorgsky went to an art showing of a friend of his who had died. Each bit in the piece represents a different painting (Great Gate of Kiev being the end of the whole piece). He wrote it as a piano solo piece, but Maurice Ravel arranged it for orchestra, which now is probably the more ‘commercially’ well known version of the music.
> 
> Also, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer do a very cool rendition of various parts on their album of the same name. \*\*

I own that album as well the the orchestral and piano arrangments. Wonderful stuff.

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