ASC CD177 Pictures at an Exhibition (£10.00)

1 Promenade 3.10
2 Gnomus 9.54
3 The Old Castle 3.36
4 Tuileries 2.36
5 Bydlo 3.02
6 Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks 2.16
7 Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle followed by Catacombs 10.04
8 Promenade 0.40
9 The Hut On Hen's Legs (Baba Yaga) 6.26
10 The Bogatyr Gates (In The Capital Of Kiev) 6.02

"Pictures At An Exhibition is an evocative piano suite that has withstood the test of time. Since its completion in 1874, the work has continued to influence and stimulate musicians, virtuosic pianists, interpreters and arrangers.

There are in fact around three hundred versions of the suite, which include arrangements by composers such as Leopold Stokowski, with his stringed Promenade introduction, and the fanfare-like atmosphere version of Leonidas Leonardi, to name but two. But of course, the most played and recorded is orchestrated by the great Maurice Ravel. Other versions have been performed in music genres such as progressive rock, such as that by the much revered band Emerson Lake and Palmer.

As is well known, Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky wrote his piano suite very quickly, in shocked response to the death of his close friend and confidant, the artist and designer Viktor Hartmann. An exhibition of Hartmann's work was organised and put into place in the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg by the influencial critic Vladimir Stasov, and Mussorgsky was immediately inspired to compose this tribute.

This particular interpretation of mine and the trio's commits itself to improvisational extrapolation, where each section of the suite is treated as a way in to collective, simultaneous, exploration. The suite has such colour, richness and depth in its harmonic language that I felt it would lend itself to a free and sustained jazz-orientated approach. This is something I've had in the back of my mind since attempting to play it many years ago. It has long been a constant puzzle to me how Modest Mussorgsky found the ideas that informed this incredible piece, as it is written in a style and exquisite uniqueness unlike anything else of its time.

Recorded in St. Cyprian's church, Bakerloo, London, we wanted the sound to resonate with the echo and ambiance that may be heard if this music were to be played in an exhibition hall. Thus, with the wonderful musical flowing flexibility and ingenuity of Joe on double bass and Arkady on drums and percussion, this recording was made possible."
Vladimir Miller