Klarinet Archive - Posting 000189.txt from 2008/03

From: Joseph Wakeling <joseph.wakeling@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] "Pictures" orchestrations
Date: Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:03:43 -0400

Lora Crighton wrote:
> When we studied the piece in school, it was Ravel's version, which our
> text claimed to best and most popular. When I had to write my notes
> on the piece, one of my comments was that the piano versiont was the
> best (I used to play piano) and the tutor agreed with me. Before
> reading this thread, I had no idea there were so many other versions.

Well ... the 'piano version' is the _original_ and the only authentic
work of Mussorgsky.

The Ravel is probably the most popular version for performance and seems
to set the standard for orchestrations of the work. Interestingly, it's
based not off Mussorgsky's original but on Rimsky-Korsakov's revised
piano version---which, aside from being an inauthentic text, arguably
did damage the quality of the work. You see this in e.g. the 'Ox-cart'
movement where Rimsky-Korsakov (and hence Ravel) indicated a piano
beginning and crescendo, whereas Mussorgsky's original has a very clear
forte from the start.

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