Pictures at an Exhibition is a set of ten short pieces by the Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. Each one describes a picture by his friend, the artist Viktor Hartmann. Between the pictures, a walking tune shows the visitor strolling from one to the next. Mussorgsky wrote it for piano in 1874. The version heard most often today is for full orchestra, arranged by Maurice Ravel in 1922.
The best first piece for a child is “Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks.” It lasts about a minute.
Quick facts
- Composer: Modest Mussorgsky, from Russia
- Written: 1874, for piano
- Orchestra version: by Maurice Ravel, 1922
- Length: about 30 to 35 minutes
- Shape: ten pictures, joined by a walking tune called the Promenade
The story behind the music
Viktor Hartmann died in 1873, when he was 39. His friends put on a show of about 400 of his drawings, paintings, and designs. Mussorgsky walked through it and then wrote this music in a few weeks.
Many of the pictures have since been lost. For some of them, the music is the main record of what they showed.
The Promenade
The piece opens with the Promenade. A trumpet plays the tune alone, and the brass answer. This is Mussorgsky himself, walking into the gallery.
The beat is uneven. Bars of five beats swap with bars of six, so the walk never settles into a march.
The tune comes back between some of the pictures. Each time, its mood has changed. The visitor is still thinking about the last picture.
The ten pictures
1. The Gnome. A small, crooked figure lurches about. The music jerks, stops, and starts.
2. The Old Castle. A singer stands in front of a castle at night. In Ravel’s version, a saxophone plays the long, sad song.
3. Tuileries. Children play and squabble in a garden in Paris. The woodwinds chatter.
4. The Ox Cart. A heavy wagon with huge wheels rolls past. A tuba plays the tune. The music starts far away, grows loud as the cart passes, and fades.
5. Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks. Hartmann drew costumes for children dressed as chicks still in their shells. Flutes and oboes peck and cheep.
6. Two Men. One man is rich and one is poor. Low strings speak for the first in a slow, heavy voice. A trumpet with a mute speaks for the second in quick, nervous notes.
7. The Market at Limoges. Women at a French market trade news at top speed. The music never stops for breath.
8. Catacombs. Hartmann drew himself looking at the tombs under Paris by lamplight. The brass play slow, loud chords with long silences between.
9. The Hut on Hen’s Legs. In Russian fairy tales, the witch Baba Yaga lives in a hut that stands on the legs of a hen. Hartmann designed a clock in that shape. The music stamps and chases.
10. The Great Gate of Kiev. Hartmann designed a grand city gate that was never built. The brass play a broad tune. Bells ring out. The Promenade returns one last time, and the full orchestra finishes with all its strength.
Where to start
- “Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks,” about one minute
- “The Hut on Hen’s Legs,” about three and a half minutes
- “The Great Gate of Kiev,” about five minutes
- The first Promenade, about a minute and a half
Things to do together
Draw first, name later. Play one picture with no title. Ask your child to draw what the music shows. Then share the title and compare. A listening journal page has space for the drawing.
Gallery walk. Tape your child’s drawings along a hallway. Play the Promenade and stroll from one to the next. Stop at each drawing while its music plays.
Piano or orchestra. Play the chicks on piano, then in Ravel’s version. Ask which instruments Ravel chose for the pecking sound, and whether the piano or the orchestra sounds more like chicks.
Near and far. In “The Ox Cart,” ask your child to point to where the cart is: far off, right here, or gone. Dynamics in music explained for kids gives the words for growing louder and softer.
Write your own. Pick a picture from a book or a wall at home. Ask your child what its music would sound like: fast or slow, loud or soft, which instruments.
Print and play
Use the listening bingo maker to turn the ten pictures into a game. For another piece where each part paints a character, try The Carnival of the Animals. More guides are listed in classical music listening guides for kids.
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This article is part of Classical music listening guides for kids: famous pieces, one at a time.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.