Booklet-8 570716
Booklet-8 570716
MUSSORGSKY
Pictures at an Exhibition
(Orchestrations compiled by Leonard Slatkin)
LISZT
Piano Concerto No.1
Peng Peng, Piano
Nashville Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Leonard Slatkin
Nashville Symphony Orchestra
Led by Music Advisor Leonard Slatkin, incoming Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero, and President and CEO Alan
D. Valentine, the Grammy Award-winning Nashville Symphony has a growing international reputation for its recordings
and innovative programming. With 140 performances annually, the 84-member Nashville Symphony is an arts leader
in Nashville and beyond, offering a broad range of pops and jazz concerts, special events, children’s concerts and
community outreach programs. In 2003, the Nashville Symphony broke ground on the $123.5 million Schermerhorn
Symphony Center, the new home of the Nashville Symphony, which opened in September 2006 to critical acclaim.
Highlights of the Symphony Center include the 1,860-seat Laura Turner Concert Hall and the 3,000 square-foot Mike
Curb Family Music Education Hall.
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Franz Liszt (1811–1886) before passing the palm to his pupil Mikhail Tushmalov, 1931, too late for all the arrangers before then, who carried
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major whose far from complete orchestration, omitting all over some crucial mistakes from various post-Bessel editions
promenades but the first and three pictures, the master first in both notes and dynamics. More recent contributors have
Liszt was born at Raiding, in Hungary, in 1811, the son of sketched out in 1832, but only orchestrated in 1849, with conducted in 1891. Another musical friend, Lyadov, thought preferred to work from facsimiles of Mussorgsky’s original
a steward in the service of Haydn’s former patrons, the the help of the young composer Joachim Raff, revised in about making his own version in 1903 but, famously indolent manuscript, in circulation since 1975.
Esterházy Princes. Encouragement from members of the 1853, and given its first performance in Weimar in February by nature, proceeded no farther with that than with 4 Promenade. Mussorgsky presents himself not as a
nobility, allowed him in 1822 to move to Vienna, for 1855 with Berlioz conducting, before further revision and Dyagilev’s attempt to get him to write The Firebird in 1910. melancholy alcoholic, but as a stout Russian, humming a
lessons with the famous piano teacher Czerny. From there publication in 1857. The concerto is novel in form, with The Proms’ founding father Henry Wood tried out the native folk-tune that typically favors flexible meters. The
he soon travelled to Paris, the base for a career as a movements that are cyclically connected, and caused some Tushmalov selection before making his own arrangement orchestration for this opening Promenade was created, at
travelling virtuoso, his own technical brilliance inspired by scandal by its inclusion of a triangle in the Scherzo, leading of all ten pictures (but again only the first Promenade), which the request of Leonard Slatkin, especially for the concert
hearing the demon violinist Paganini. Years of travel as a Hanslick, a hostile critic in Vienna, to describe the work as he conducted in a Queen’s Hall concert on 17th April 1915; by Nashville Symphony Principal Music Librarian (and
performer of phenomenal popularity ended in 1847, when a ‘triangle concerto’. he later withdrew his arrangement in deference to Ravel’s. former horn player) D. Wilson Ochoa, who offers this note:
he settled in Weimar as Director of Music to the court. The opening motif played by the strings has an impor- Last of the significant early champions Leo Funtek, found “I began by using Mussorgsky’s own orchestration of
Now he turned his attention to the development of a newer tant rôle to play in the concerto, answered by the octaves himself just pipped to the post by Ravel in 1922. Subsequent Night on Bald Mountain as an inspiration (which is quite
form of orchestral music, the programmatic symphonic of the solo piano, which goes on to a cadenza, before the viewpoints, slow to appear until the Ravel orchestration’s more adventuresome and exciting than Rimsky-Korsakov’s
poem, and, as always, to the revision and publication of opening motif continues to be transformed in various ways. exclusive rights came to an end, were all the more welcomed reworking of that piece). My thought was not just to give a
earlier compositions. In 1861 he moved to Rome, where he Muted strings open the B major Quasi Adagio, before a by orchestras since the copyright fees for the best-known portrait of the person touring the exhibition, but to give the
eventually developed a pattern of life that he described as rhapsodic passage for the solo piano and elements of quasi- orchestral Pictures remained prohibitively expensive. An idea that this person is approaching the gallery; therefore, the
‘three-pronged’. In Rome he pursued his religious interests, recitative. A solo viola and then a solo clarinet lead to the increasing number of recordings now feature those alter- anticipation and excitement build throughout. Woodwinds
returning to Weimar to teach and advise a younger soft triangle rhythms that introduce the Allegretto vivace, natives, culminating most recently in Oliver Knussen’s begin, to which are added pizzicato strings and a walking
generation of musicians, and, now as a national hero, to followed by the return of the opening motif, softly at first surprising choice of his old family friend Leopold cello/bass line. Full orchestra with brass is saved until the
Hungary, where he did much to foster national musical from the soloist, and then with full force from strings and Stokowski’s characteristically wayward transcription. We final statements of the theme.”
development. He died in 1886 in Bayreuth, where his trombones, before woodwind echoes of the Quasi Adagio. have also had, of course, the electronic bizarreries of Isao 5 I. Gnomus. ‘A sketch showing a little gnome, clumsily
daughter Cosima, widow of Richard Wagner, lived, The concerto ends with a virtual summary of what has gone Tomita, the popular touch of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, running with crooked legs’ (Hartmann’s original no longer
concerned more with the continued propagation of her before. Themes from the Quasi Adagio are transformed, and numerous instrumental transcriptions including one for survives). Mussorgsky’s menacing interpretation of
husband’s music than with her father. and elements derived from the opening motif of the whole accordion virtuosi and Christian Lindberg’s jeu d’esprit for Hartmann’s nutcracker design is very much in the line of his
By the age of fourteen Liszt had written two piano work return, leading to a brilliant conclusion. trombone and piano. Back in the orchestral sphere, the earlier orchestral score first known as St John’s Night on the
concertos, now lost. The first surviving concerto was misleading debate about French refinement versus Slavic Bare Mountain, giving some cues for instrumentation.
Keith Anderson earthiness continues, but rugged Russianness is certainly not Sergey Gorchakov (1905–1976) keeps the colours dark but
the aim of Leonard Slatkin’s eclectic selection, very different plays relatively sober, keeping for instance Mussorgsky’s
from the equally diverse sequence he conducted at the Proms straight repeat when Ravel goes for eerie embroidery.
The Star-Spangled Banner in 1991; instead, we are invited to bask in the high spirits and Perhaps because Gorchakov is the only Soviet representative
The versatile American arranger, orchestrator, composer Leonard Slatkin. It takes the form of a eulogy on the tragedy ingenuity of several more outlandish contenders. – professor at the Moscow Conservatory, he made his
and performer Rob Mathes made his arrangement of The of 9/11, and has found a firm place in popular patriotic Quotations in the description which follows come from orchestration thirteen years after Pavel Lamm’s ‘correct’
Star-Spangled Banner in response to a commission from national repertoire. the programme provided by the work’s dedicatee and yet 1931 edition of the original – he has been held up as a model
the National Symphony Orchestra, under its conductor another distinguished friend of the composer, the critic of Russianness, but this distinction, made by conductor Kurt
Vladimir Stasov. The first edition of the piano score which Masur among others, is somewhat oversimplified, for reasons
it accompanied was published by Vassily Bessel in 1886, given above.
five years after Mussorgsky’s death and with either 6 Promenade. All energy spent in the cracked looking-
improvements or errors supplied by Rimsky-Korsakov. A glass of the first picture, the becalmed spectator now puts
still not entirely reliable version, based on the original himself in the right frame of mind for a calmer scene.
manuscript, was edited by Pavel Lamm for publication in German-born conductor and composer Walter Goehr
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(1903–1976), father of an even finer composer, Alexander, of this predominantly dark-coloured work’, Vladimir arrangement it follows Rimsky-Korsakov’s faulty text, But for the inimitable glow of the ensuing dialogue with
made his arrangement in 1942 ‘to meet the requirements of Ashkenazy (b. 1937) makes his impact with four horns in offers marvellous contrasts between soft and loud. the dead, the French master’s subtle halos and shadows
orchestras of less than fully “symphonic” proportions’. He full throated unison (As pianist and conductor Ashkenazy $ Promenade. The one Ravel left out allows Mussorg- remain uniquely evocative; it is surely apt that the soul of
sensitively underlines Mussorgsky’s introspection here with needs no introduction; but it is worth noting that he has sky’s promenader – so much more amiably prosperous than Mussorgsky’s work should be heard in his voice.
solo strings, double woodwind and muted brass. recorded his orchestration alongside his interpretation of Samuel Goldenberg – to take stock at the mid-way point. * IX. The hut on fowl’s legs (Baba-Yaga). ‘This drawing
7 II. Il vecchio castello. ‘A medieval castle, in front of the piano original.) But this is no ordinary semi-reprise. In another version for by Hartmann depicts a clock in the form of a witch’s hut on
which a troubadour is singing’. Novelty usually rests with ! Promenade. Oppressed perhaps by the image of eastern piano and orchestra made in 1975, sixteen years before hen’s legs. Mussorgsky added the ride of Baba-Yaga (the
which solo instrument takes the pensive minstrel’s song, a European labour, the minor-key mood of the spectator is Naoumoff’s, the English-trained conductor and composer witch) on a mortar’. It is fascinating to learn that Hartmann
lilting Italian sicilienne: alto saxophone (Ravel), cor anglais abruptly banished by an unexpected cheep from the next Lawrence Leonard (b.1926) preserves Mussorgsky’s solo once went to a fancy-dress ball as the terrifying hag of
(Stokowski) or muted trumpet (Gorchakov). Here the alto canvas. Here we have a brief, straightforward, sample line throughout and heightens his antiphony in the shifting Russian folklore. More Satanic than picturesque in
flute launches the melody; but the real fascination comes glimpse of the most recent arrangement (1995) by musi- orchestral colours Mussorgsky’s vision, her flight is perhaps most vividly
with the imitative, canonic lines added for solo piano, which cologist and composer Carl Simpson (b.1955). % VII. Limoges: Le marché. ‘French women arguing delineated in the bony outlines of the daring arrangement by
later elaborates the theme and leads the central crescendo. @ V. Ballet of the unhatched chicks. ‘An illustration by furiously in the market square’. A shrill riot of colour. In Leopold Stokowski (1882–1977), in which the four trumpets
The rôle is a plum one allocated to himself, among others, Hartmann of a picturesque scene in the ballet Trilby’, first 1922 the Czech-born conductor of Finland’s major orchestra and eight horns seem to have come whooping from an
by Bulgarian Emile Naoumoff (b.1962), who studied produced at the Bolshoy in 1871, with choreography by and opera company Leo Funtek (1885–1965) would have encounter with Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Cailliet’s
composition under Nadia Boulanger and swept to fame in Petipa including this sequence for children dressed in giant probably, like Ravel, have had the example of Respighi’s arrangement having been first given with the Philadelphia
1984 with a virtuoso performance of Tchaikovsky’s First eggshells. Few orchestrators can match Ravel for soph- Pines of Rome fresh in his ears, where the tumult also falls Orchestra in 1937 by Eugene Ormandy during Stokowski’s
Piano Concerto. His arrangement of Pictures followed istication in this piquant dance number, inspired by a into the shadow of the catacombs. This ‘other’ Pictures directorship there, Stokowski made this arrangement the
seven years later. fantasy-trio in Glinka’s fairy-tale opera Ruslan and from the key year in the work’s fortunes also enjoys the following year – and Cailliet, as usual, was there to help. The
8 Promenade. Rough double octaves suggest the com- Lyudmila; one who treats it even more exuberantly, with glitter of the percussion battery, though it poses challenges fact that Mussorgsky’s original piano text was to hand made
poser’s more masculine Slavic soul, softened by: wood-black, rattle and a flutter-tonguing blast from the of articulation, somewhat inevitably given Mussorgsky’s no difference to the exuberant and libertarian Stokowski,
9 III. Tuileries. ‘Avenue in the Tuileries gardens, with a trumpet, is Lucien Cailliet (1891–1985), sole survivor of pianistic and toccata-like original. who did very much his own thing with the end of Baba
swarm of children and governesses’. Is this an entirely Leonard Slatkin’s 1991 sequence. Cailliet, who studied ^ VIII. Catacombae – Yaga as with so much else in the score.
French canvas, or are these Russian children in the Parisian under D’Indy in his native France, came to the Philadelphia & Con mortuis in lingua mortua. Stasov to Rimsky- ( X. The Bogatyr (Heroes’) Gate at Kiev. ‘Hartmann’s
playground, crying ‘Nya-nya’ (‘nanny’), as one Russian Orchestra as bass-clarinettist and court arranger to Leopold Korsakov, 1st July 1874: ‘You don’t know the second part sketch is his design for a city gate in Kiev, in the old-Russian
musicologist has suggested? The wind-and-brass sounds of Stokowski, who often took the credit for his work. He went at all, and I feel that all the best things are here … there are massive style, with a dome in the form of a Slav helmet’. In
bass clarinettist and arranger Geert Van Keulen (b.1943) on to write orchestral works including a set of variations on some unusually poetic moments. These appear in the music his correspondence Stasov added: ‘There is a particularly
allow for stark masses in the promenade and Gallic pastel ‘Pop Goes the Weasel’, composed many film scores of his for Hartmann’s painting The Catacombs of Paris beautiful church melody here, ‘As You are baptised in
delicacy in the picture, where the winds are supported by own and orchestrated others (including the late Elmer (Mussorgsky’s subtitle is Sepulcrum Romanum), which Christ’, and the sound of bells in an entirely new manner’
selective muted trombones and trumpet (only coming to the Bernstein’s music for The Ten Commandments). consist of nothing but skulls. At first Musoryanin has a – a gift for the orchestrator, though few have gone quite as
fore with cup mute in the slyly charming middle section). # VI. Two Polish Jews, one rich, one poor. (Samuel depiction of a gloomy cavern, with purely orchestral chords far as the brilliant Australian-born arranger and film-score
Van Keulen’s many other selective arrangements, inci- Goldenberg and Schmuyle in the original manuscript). held out long with a big tenuto. Then, above a tremolo … composer Douglas Gamley (1924–1998), a name inexpli-
dentally, range from Shostakovich to tango. Hartmann had painted two quite separate characters; comes the first promenade theme; this is the glimmering of cably absent from the New Grove Dictionary. In what one
0 IV. Bydlo. ‘A Polish cart on enormous wheels, drawn by Mussorgsky sets up a dramatic dialogue between them. The little lights in the skulls; here, suddenly, Hartman’s must presume is a happier meeting with Mussorgsky than
oxen’ (‘bydlo’ is the Polish word for oxen). Note echoes of rich Jew is grand and well-upholstered in the piano version, enchanting, poetic appeal to Mussorgsky rings out’. the one in the 1970s horror film Asylum, where Gamley and
the Promenade in the developing melodic line: is this as here with fortissimo double basses and lower woodwind; Mussorgsky’s Latin subtitle for this second part of the Pictures first commingled, our last contender throws in
suffering mother Russia as much as a picture of Polish the poor Jew is surely trembling or stammering rather than requiem means ‘with the dead in the language of the dead’. several extra links, first a chorus and then an organ to deal
hardship? Rimsky-Korsakov’s piano score led all orch- whining as in Ravel’s unforgettable solo for muted trumpet. Mussorgsky’s heart of darkness finds itself shared with the ‘church melody’ and, of course, plenty of bells for
estrators before 1931 to believe that the cart hailed from a The 1915 arrangement of our very own Sir Henry Wood between two versions. American John Boyd has used his this most Russian of finales.
distance, pianissimo. Mussorgsky’s intention was fortissimo (1869–1944) enjoys a flutter-tonguing, harp-glissandoing long-term experience with wind, brass and percussion
from the start. Proud to have put the earlier textual errors transition before settling for oboes and cor anglais backed ensembles to extend the potential of Ravel’s brassy masses. David Nice
wrong, and guided as he put it by ‘the deeper undercurrents up by muted trombone. His coda, though as this is an early
8.570716 4 5 8.570716
570716bk Mussorgsky:570034bk Hasse 29/7/08 10:19 AM Page 4
(1903–1976), father of an even finer composer, Alexander, of this predominantly dark-coloured work’, Vladimir arrangement it follows Rimsky-Korsakov’s faulty text, But for the inimitable glow of the ensuing dialogue with
made his arrangement in 1942 ‘to meet the requirements of Ashkenazy (b. 1937) makes his impact with four horns in offers marvellous contrasts between soft and loud. the dead, the French master’s subtle halos and shadows
orchestras of less than fully “symphonic” proportions’. He full throated unison (As pianist and conductor Ashkenazy $ Promenade. The one Ravel left out allows Mussorg- remain uniquely evocative; it is surely apt that the soul of
sensitively underlines Mussorgsky’s introspection here with needs no introduction; but it is worth noting that he has sky’s promenader – so much more amiably prosperous than Mussorgsky’s work should be heard in his voice.
solo strings, double woodwind and muted brass. recorded his orchestration alongside his interpretation of Samuel Goldenberg – to take stock at the mid-way point. * IX. The hut on fowl’s legs (Baba-Yaga). ‘This drawing
7 II. Il vecchio castello. ‘A medieval castle, in front of the piano original.) But this is no ordinary semi-reprise. In another version for by Hartmann depicts a clock in the form of a witch’s hut on
which a troubadour is singing’. Novelty usually rests with ! Promenade. Oppressed perhaps by the image of eastern piano and orchestra made in 1975, sixteen years before hen’s legs. Mussorgsky added the ride of Baba-Yaga (the
which solo instrument takes the pensive minstrel’s song, a European labour, the minor-key mood of the spectator is Naoumoff’s, the English-trained conductor and composer witch) on a mortar’. It is fascinating to learn that Hartmann
lilting Italian sicilienne: alto saxophone (Ravel), cor anglais abruptly banished by an unexpected cheep from the next Lawrence Leonard (b.1926) preserves Mussorgsky’s solo once went to a fancy-dress ball as the terrifying hag of
(Stokowski) or muted trumpet (Gorchakov). Here the alto canvas. Here we have a brief, straightforward, sample line throughout and heightens his antiphony in the shifting Russian folklore. More Satanic than picturesque in
flute launches the melody; but the real fascination comes glimpse of the most recent arrangement (1995) by musi- orchestral colours Mussorgsky’s vision, her flight is perhaps most vividly
with the imitative, canonic lines added for solo piano, which cologist and composer Carl Simpson (b.1955). % VII. Limoges: Le marché. ‘French women arguing delineated in the bony outlines of the daring arrangement by
later elaborates the theme and leads the central crescendo. @ V. Ballet of the unhatched chicks. ‘An illustration by furiously in the market square’. A shrill riot of colour. In Leopold Stokowski (1882–1977), in which the four trumpets
The rôle is a plum one allocated to himself, among others, Hartmann of a picturesque scene in the ballet Trilby’, first 1922 the Czech-born conductor of Finland’s major orchestra and eight horns seem to have come whooping from an
by Bulgarian Emile Naoumoff (b.1962), who studied produced at the Bolshoy in 1871, with choreography by and opera company Leo Funtek (1885–1965) would have encounter with Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Cailliet’s
composition under Nadia Boulanger and swept to fame in Petipa including this sequence for children dressed in giant probably, like Ravel, have had the example of Respighi’s arrangement having been first given with the Philadelphia
1984 with a virtuoso performance of Tchaikovsky’s First eggshells. Few orchestrators can match Ravel for soph- Pines of Rome fresh in his ears, where the tumult also falls Orchestra in 1937 by Eugene Ormandy during Stokowski’s
Piano Concerto. His arrangement of Pictures followed istication in this piquant dance number, inspired by a into the shadow of the catacombs. This ‘other’ Pictures directorship there, Stokowski made this arrangement the
seven years later. fantasy-trio in Glinka’s fairy-tale opera Ruslan and from the key year in the work’s fortunes also enjoys the following year – and Cailliet, as usual, was there to help. The
8 Promenade. Rough double octaves suggest the com- Lyudmila; one who treats it even more exuberantly, with glitter of the percussion battery, though it poses challenges fact that Mussorgsky’s original piano text was to hand made
poser’s more masculine Slavic soul, softened by: wood-black, rattle and a flutter-tonguing blast from the of articulation, somewhat inevitably given Mussorgsky’s no difference to the exuberant and libertarian Stokowski,
9 III. Tuileries. ‘Avenue in the Tuileries gardens, with a trumpet, is Lucien Cailliet (1891–1985), sole survivor of pianistic and toccata-like original. who did very much his own thing with the end of Baba
swarm of children and governesses’. Is this an entirely Leonard Slatkin’s 1991 sequence. Cailliet, who studied ^ VIII. Catacombae – Yaga as with so much else in the score.
French canvas, or are these Russian children in the Parisian under D’Indy in his native France, came to the Philadelphia & Con mortuis in lingua mortua. Stasov to Rimsky- ( X. The Bogatyr (Heroes’) Gate at Kiev. ‘Hartmann’s
playground, crying ‘Nya-nya’ (‘nanny’), as one Russian Orchestra as bass-clarinettist and court arranger to Leopold Korsakov, 1st July 1874: ‘You don’t know the second part sketch is his design for a city gate in Kiev, in the old-Russian
musicologist has suggested? The wind-and-brass sounds of Stokowski, who often took the credit for his work. He went at all, and I feel that all the best things are here … there are massive style, with a dome in the form of a Slav helmet’. In
bass clarinettist and arranger Geert Van Keulen (b.1943) on to write orchestral works including a set of variations on some unusually poetic moments. These appear in the music his correspondence Stasov added: ‘There is a particularly
allow for stark masses in the promenade and Gallic pastel ‘Pop Goes the Weasel’, composed many film scores of his for Hartmann’s painting The Catacombs of Paris beautiful church melody here, ‘As You are baptised in
delicacy in the picture, where the winds are supported by own and orchestrated others (including the late Elmer (Mussorgsky’s subtitle is Sepulcrum Romanum), which Christ’, and the sound of bells in an entirely new manner’
selective muted trombones and trumpet (only coming to the Bernstein’s music for The Ten Commandments). consist of nothing but skulls. At first Musoryanin has a – a gift for the orchestrator, though few have gone quite as
fore with cup mute in the slyly charming middle section). # VI. Two Polish Jews, one rich, one poor. (Samuel depiction of a gloomy cavern, with purely orchestral chords far as the brilliant Australian-born arranger and film-score
Van Keulen’s many other selective arrangements, inci- Goldenberg and Schmuyle in the original manuscript). held out long with a big tenuto. Then, above a tremolo … composer Douglas Gamley (1924–1998), a name inexpli-
dentally, range from Shostakovich to tango. Hartmann had painted two quite separate characters; comes the first promenade theme; this is the glimmering of cably absent from the New Grove Dictionary. In what one
0 IV. Bydlo. ‘A Polish cart on enormous wheels, drawn by Mussorgsky sets up a dramatic dialogue between them. The little lights in the skulls; here, suddenly, Hartman’s must presume is a happier meeting with Mussorgsky than
oxen’ (‘bydlo’ is the Polish word for oxen). Note echoes of rich Jew is grand and well-upholstered in the piano version, enchanting, poetic appeal to Mussorgsky rings out’. the one in the 1970s horror film Asylum, where Gamley and
the Promenade in the developing melodic line: is this as here with fortissimo double basses and lower woodwind; Mussorgsky’s Latin subtitle for this second part of the Pictures first commingled, our last contender throws in
suffering mother Russia as much as a picture of Polish the poor Jew is surely trembling or stammering rather than requiem means ‘with the dead in the language of the dead’. several extra links, first a chorus and then an organ to deal
hardship? Rimsky-Korsakov’s piano score led all orch- whining as in Ravel’s unforgettable solo for muted trumpet. Mussorgsky’s heart of darkness finds itself shared with the ‘church melody’ and, of course, plenty of bells for
estrators before 1931 to believe that the cart hailed from a The 1915 arrangement of our very own Sir Henry Wood between two versions. American John Boyd has used his this most Russian of finales.
distance, pianissimo. Mussorgsky’s intention was fortissimo (1869–1944) enjoys a flutter-tonguing, harp-glissandoing long-term experience with wind, brass and percussion
from the start. Proud to have put the earlier textual errors transition before settling for oboes and cor anglais backed ensembles to extend the potential of Ravel’s brassy masses. David Nice
wrong, and guided as he put it by ‘the deeper undercurrents up by muted trombone. His coda, though as this is an early
8.570716 4 5 8.570716
570716bk Mussorgsky:570034bk Hasse 29/7/08 10:19 AM Page 6
Franz Liszt (1811–1886) before passing the palm to his pupil Mikhail Tushmalov, 1931, too late for all the arrangers before then, who carried
Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat major whose far from complete orchestration, omitting all over some crucial mistakes from various post-Bessel editions
promenades but the first and three pictures, the master first in both notes and dynamics. More recent contributors have
Liszt was born at Raiding, in Hungary, in 1811, the son of sketched out in 1832, but only orchestrated in 1849, with conducted in 1891. Another musical friend, Lyadov, thought preferred to work from facsimiles of Mussorgsky’s original
a steward in the service of Haydn’s former patrons, the the help of the young composer Joachim Raff, revised in about making his own version in 1903 but, famously indolent manuscript, in circulation since 1975.
Esterházy Princes. Encouragement from members of the 1853, and given its first performance in Weimar in February by nature, proceeded no farther with that than with 4 Promenade. Mussorgsky presents himself not as a
nobility, allowed him in 1822 to move to Vienna, for 1855 with Berlioz conducting, before further revision and Dyagilev’s attempt to get him to write The Firebird in 1910. melancholy alcoholic, but as a stout Russian, humming a
lessons with the famous piano teacher Czerny. From there publication in 1857. The concerto is novel in form, with The Proms’ founding father Henry Wood tried out the native folk-tune that typically favors flexible meters. The
he soon travelled to Paris, the base for a career as a movements that are cyclically connected, and caused some Tushmalov selection before making his own arrangement orchestration for this opening Promenade was created, at
travelling virtuoso, his own technical brilliance inspired by scandal by its inclusion of a triangle in the Scherzo, leading of all ten pictures (but again only the first Promenade), which the request of Leonard Slatkin, especially for the concert
hearing the demon violinist Paganini. Years of travel as a Hanslick, a hostile critic in Vienna, to describe the work as he conducted in a Queen’s Hall concert on 17th April 1915; by Nashville Symphony Principal Music Librarian (and
performer of phenomenal popularity ended in 1847, when a ‘triangle concerto’. he later withdrew his arrangement in deference to Ravel’s. former horn player) D. Wilson Ochoa, who offers this note:
he settled in Weimar as Director of Music to the court. The opening motif played by the strings has an impor- Last of the significant early champions Leo Funtek, found “I began by using Mussorgsky’s own orchestration of
Now he turned his attention to the development of a newer tant rôle to play in the concerto, answered by the octaves himself just pipped to the post by Ravel in 1922. Subsequent Night on Bald Mountain as an inspiration (which is quite
form of orchestral music, the programmatic symphonic of the solo piano, which goes on to a cadenza, before the viewpoints, slow to appear until the Ravel orchestration’s more adventuresome and exciting than Rimsky-Korsakov’s
poem, and, as always, to the revision and publication of opening motif continues to be transformed in various ways. exclusive rights came to an end, were all the more welcomed reworking of that piece). My thought was not just to give a
earlier compositions. In 1861 he moved to Rome, where he Muted strings open the B major Quasi Adagio, before a by orchestras since the copyright fees for the best-known portrait of the person touring the exhibition, but to give the
eventually developed a pattern of life that he described as rhapsodic passage for the solo piano and elements of quasi- orchestral Pictures remained prohibitively expensive. An idea that this person is approaching the gallery; therefore, the
‘three-pronged’. In Rome he pursued his religious interests, recitative. A solo viola and then a solo clarinet lead to the increasing number of recordings now feature those alter- anticipation and excitement build throughout. Woodwinds
returning to Weimar to teach and advise a younger soft triangle rhythms that introduce the Allegretto vivace, natives, culminating most recently in Oliver Knussen’s begin, to which are added pizzicato strings and a walking
generation of musicians, and, now as a national hero, to followed by the return of the opening motif, softly at first surprising choice of his old family friend Leopold cello/bass line. Full orchestra with brass is saved until the
Hungary, where he did much to foster national musical from the soloist, and then with full force from strings and Stokowski’s characteristically wayward transcription. We final statements of the theme.”
development. He died in 1886 in Bayreuth, where his trombones, before woodwind echoes of the Quasi Adagio. have also had, of course, the electronic bizarreries of Isao 5 I. Gnomus. ‘A sketch showing a little gnome, clumsily
daughter Cosima, widow of Richard Wagner, lived, The concerto ends with a virtual summary of what has gone Tomita, the popular touch of Emerson, Lake and Palmer, running with crooked legs’ (Hartmann’s original no longer
concerned more with the continued propagation of her before. Themes from the Quasi Adagio are transformed, and numerous instrumental transcriptions including one for survives). Mussorgsky’s menacing interpretation of
husband’s music than with her father. and elements derived from the opening motif of the whole accordion virtuosi and Christian Lindberg’s jeu d’esprit for Hartmann’s nutcracker design is very much in the line of his
By the age of fourteen Liszt had written two piano work return, leading to a brilliant conclusion. trombone and piano. Back in the orchestral sphere, the earlier orchestral score first known as St John’s Night on the
concertos, now lost. The first surviving concerto was misleading debate about French refinement versus Slavic Bare Mountain, giving some cues for instrumentation.
Keith Anderson earthiness continues, but rugged Russianness is certainly not Sergey Gorchakov (1905–1976) keeps the colours dark but
the aim of Leonard Slatkin’s eclectic selection, very different plays relatively sober, keeping for instance Mussorgsky’s
from the equally diverse sequence he conducted at the Proms straight repeat when Ravel goes for eerie embroidery.
The Star-Spangled Banner in 1991; instead, we are invited to bask in the high spirits and Perhaps because Gorchakov is the only Soviet representative
The versatile American arranger, orchestrator, composer Leonard Slatkin. It takes the form of a eulogy on the tragedy ingenuity of several more outlandish contenders. – professor at the Moscow Conservatory, he made his
and performer Rob Mathes made his arrangement of The of 9/11, and has found a firm place in popular patriotic Quotations in the description which follows come from orchestration thirteen years after Pavel Lamm’s ‘correct’
Star-Spangled Banner in response to a commission from national repertoire. the programme provided by the work’s dedicatee and yet 1931 edition of the original – he has been held up as a model
the National Symphony Orchestra, under its conductor another distinguished friend of the composer, the critic of Russianness, but this distinction, made by conductor Kurt
Vladimir Stasov. The first edition of the piano score which Masur among others, is somewhat oversimplified, for reasons
it accompanied was published by Vassily Bessel in 1886, given above.
five years after Mussorgsky’s death and with either 6 Promenade. All energy spent in the cracked looking-
improvements or errors supplied by Rimsky-Korsakov. A glass of the first picture, the becalmed spectator now puts
still not entirely reliable version, based on the original himself in the right frame of mind for a calmer scene.
manuscript, was edited by Pavel Lamm for publication in German-born conductor and composer Walter Goehr
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MUSSORGSKY
Pictures at an Exhibition
(Orchestrations compiled by Leonard Slatkin)
LISZT
Piano Concerto No.1
Peng Peng, Piano
Nashville Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
Leonard Slatkin
Nashville Symphony Orchestra
Led by Music Advisor Leonard Slatkin, incoming Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero, and President and CEO Alan
D. Valentine, the Grammy Award-winning Nashville Symphony has a growing international reputation for its recordings
and innovative programming. With 140 performances annually, the 84-member Nashville Symphony is an arts leader
in Nashville and beyond, offering a broad range of pops and jazz concerts, special events, children’s concerts and
community outreach programs. In 2003, the Nashville Symphony broke ground on the $123.5 million Schermerhorn
Symphony Center, the new home of the Nashville Symphony, which opened in September 2006 to critical acclaim.
Highlights of the Symphony Center include the 1,860-seat Laura Turner Concert Hall and the 3,000 square-foot Mike
Curb Family Music Education Hall.
NAXOS
An increasing number of recordings (Stokowski’s characteristically daring transcription is available
on Naxos 8.557645) now feature orchestrations of Mussorgsky’s Pictures other than Ravel’s popular
warhorse (Naxos 8.555924). Leonard Slatkin’s eclectic selection, some more outlandish than others,
invites us to bask in the high spirits and ingenuity of no fewer than fifteen different composers. The
Chinese pianist PENG PENG, who was fourteen at the time of this recording, has won many 8.570716
competitions, including first prize in the 2002 China National Youth Piano Competition.
MUSSORGSKY: Pictures at an Exhibition
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Recorded live at the Laura Turner Concert Hall, Nashville, USA, 21 June 2007 • Producers: Blanton Alspaugh,
Elizabeth Ostrow • Engineer: John Hill • Assistant Engineers: Kevin Edlin, Steven Simpson K
Booklet notes: David Nice, Keith Anderson • Cover painting © Julia Shepeleva / Dreamstime.com)