The first musician to arrange Mussorgsky's
Pictures at an Exhibition for orchestra was the Russian composer and conductor
Mikhail Tushmalov. However, his version (first performed in 1891 and possibly produced as early as 1886 when he was a student of Rimsky-Korsakov) does not include the entire suite: Only seven of the ten "pictures" are present, leaving out "Gnomus", "Tuileries", and "Cattle", and all the Promenades are omitted except for the last one, which is used in place of the first. The next orchestration was undertaken by the British conductor
Henry Wood in 1915. He recorded a few sections of his arrangement on a pair of acoustic Columbia 78 rpm discs in 1920. However, he withdrew his version when
Maurice Ravel's orchestration was published, and banned every public performance in the 1930s in deference to Ravel's work. Wood's arrangement has also been recorded by the
London Philharmonic Orchestra under
Nicholas Braithwaite and issued on the
Lyrita label. All but the first of the Promenade movements were omitted and other passages extensively re-composed. Wood's orchestration was once described by
Gordon Jacob as "superior to Ravel's in picturesqueness and vividness", with its off-stage camel-bells in "Cattle" and grand organ in "The Great Gate of Kyiv". The first person to orchestrate the piece in its entirety was the Slovenian-born conductor and violinist
Leo Funtek, who finished his version in 1922 while living and working in Finland. The version by
Maurice Ravel, produced in 1922 on a commission by
Serge Koussevitzky, represents a virtuoso effort by a master colourist. The orchestration has proved the most popular in the concert hall and on record. Ravel omitted the Promenade between "Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuÿle" and "Limoges" and applied artistic license to some particulars of dynamics and notation. His instrumental colors—a trumpet solo for the opening Promenade, dark woodwind tones for passages suggesting
Orthodox chant, the piccolo and high strings for the children's "chicks in shells"—are widely admired. The influence of Ravel's version may often be discerned in subsequent versions of the suite. Koussevitzky's commission, worked out with the publishers of the piano suite, gave him sole conducting rights for several years. He conducted the first performance in Paris on October 19, 1922. He published Ravel's score himself and in 1930 made the first recording of it with the
Boston Symphony Orchestra. The exclusive nature of his commission prompted the release of a number of contemporary versions by other arrangers until Ravel's became generally available. The original publisher of Mussorgsky's piano suite, W. Bessel & Co. rushed to produce an orchestral version of its own after Ravel's proved popular. The publisher had passed on the opportunity to publish Ravel's arrangement, seeing no great commercial advantage in printing a score and set of parts for large orchestra; it had granted Koussevitzky permission to commission the setting and publish the score himself on the condition that no one else be allowed to perform it. Bessel turned to a Ravel student, 21-year-old Russian-born pianist
Leonidas Leonardi (1901–1967), a.k.a. Leon Leonardi or Leonid Leonardi, to create an orchestral version that could meet the now burgeoning demand and help the publisher regain some of its lost advantage. Leonardi's orchestration requires even larger forces than the version made by his mentor. The young pianist dedicated his setting of the suite to
Igor Stravinsky and conducted the premiere in Paris with the
Lamoureux Orchestra on 15 June 1924. The US premiere took place on 4 December 1924 when the
New York Symphony Orchestra performed it under the baton of
Walter Damrosch. Regardless, Leonardi's orchestration was soon eclipsed by Ravel's, and today only the third Promenade and "Tuileries" movement of his version may be heard on audio record (
Leonard Slatkin/Saint Louis Symphony:
The Slatkin Years: 6 CD Set). Another arrangement appeared when
Eugene Ormandy took over the
Philadelphia Orchestra in 1936 following
Leopold Stokowski's decision to resign the conductorship. Ormandy wanted a version of
Pictures of his own and commissioned
Lucien Cailliet, the Philadelphia Orchestra's 'house arranger' and player in the woodwind section, to produce one. This version was premiered and recorded by Ormandy in 1937.
Walter Goehr published a version in 1942 for smaller forces than Ravel but curiously dropped "Gnomus" altogether and made "Limoges" the first piece. The conductor
Leopold Stokowski had introduced Ravel's version to
Philadelphia audiences in November 1929; ten years later, he produced
his own very free orchestration (incorporating much re-composition), aiming for what he called a more Slavic orchestral sound instead of Ravel's more Gallic approach. Stokowski revised his version over the years and made three gramophone recordings of it (1939, 1941 and 1965). The score, finally published in 1971, has since been recorded by other conductors, including
Matthias Bamert,
Gennady Rozhdestvensky,
Oliver Knussen and
José Serebrier. Although Ravel's version is most often performed and recorded, a number of conductors have made their own changes to the scoring, including
Arturo Toscanini,
Nikolai Golovanov, and
James Conlon. Conductor and pianist
Vladimir Ashkenazy produced his own orchestral arrangement, expressing dissatisfaction with Ravel's interpretive liberties and perpetuation of early printing errors. The conductor
Leonard Slatkin has performed compendium versions, in which each Promenade and picture is interpreted by a different orchestral arranger. Many other orchestrations and arrangements of
Pictures have been made. Most show debts to Ravel; the original piano composition is, of course, frequently performed and recorded. A version for chamber orchestra exists, made by
Taiwanese composer Chao Ching-Wen.
Lawrence Leonard produced a version for piano and orchestra, thus combining aspects of the original piece and subsequent orchestrations.
Elgar Howarth arranged it for the
Philip Jones Brass Ensemble in 1977, subsequently recasting it for
Grimethorpe Colliery Band.
Kazuhito Yamashita wrote an adaptation for solo
classical guitar. Excerpts have also been recorded, including a 78 rpm disc of "The Old Castle" and "Catacombs" orchestrated by Sir
Granville Bantock, and a spectacular version of "The Great Gate of Kyiv" was scored by
Douglas Gamley for full symphony orchestra, male voice choir and organ. The
Amadeus Orchestra (UK) commissioned ten composers to orchestrate one movement each to make a version first performed complete in 2012. Movements were provided by
Alastair King, Roger May,
Tolib Shakhidi, David Butterworth,
Philip Mackenzie, Simon Whiteside, Daryl Griffiths, Natalia Villanueva, James McWilliam and Julian Kershaw. In 2003 guitarist-composer
Trevor Rabin released an electric guitar adaptation of the Promenade originally intended for the
Yes album
Big Generator and later included on his demo album
90124. In 2005,
Animusic 2 included a track entitled "Cathedral Pictures", which included only the first Promenade and the final two movements from the suite. The
Michael Jackson song "
HIStory" samples a short section of "The Great Gate of Kiev", with a longer part featured during the
HIStory World Tour 5 minute-countdown before the MJ-2040 spaceship departs, a snippet before continuing
They Don't Care About Us and in the flag parade finale in 1996/97. Re-issues of the
HIStory album further changed the sample on the track. The same thing can be heard in the
Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration, which during the Jacksons's ultimate medley, after
Can You Feel It, the song starts and then
ABC starts. A section of "The Great Gate of Kiev" has also served as the long-standing entrance music for pro wrestler
Jerry "The King" Lawler.
Orchestrations A partial listing of orchestral arrangements of
Pictures at an Exhibition: •
Mikhail Tushmalov for large symphony orchestra, arranged by a pupil of Ravel's. •
Lucien Cailliet •
Thomas Wilbrandt (1992) •
Émile Naoumoff (ca. 1994, in concerto style with some added music, for piano and orchestra; recorded with Igor Blaschkow conducting the Deutsches Symphony Orchestra Berlin, for
Wergo.) •
Mekong Delta (1997; for group and orchestra.) •
Julian Yu (2001), for sixteen players or chamber orchestra •
Jason Wright Wingate (2003; orchestra, organ and chorus.) •
Hidemaro Konoye (date unknown.) •
Leonard Slatkin – Two compendium versions, the second of which he recorded with the
BBC Symphony Orchestra for Warner Classics live at the
BBC Proms on 1 September 2004; the other recording was with the
Nashville Symphony for
Naxos Records. •
Václav Smetáček (a performance with
Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducting the
Prague Symphony Orchestra on 28 October 2004 has been issued on the Don Industriale label.) •
Jukka-Pekka Saraste created a performing edition of his own, combining the orchestrations of
Leo Funtek and
Sergei Gorchakov, recorded with the
Toronto Symphony Orchestra for Finlandia Records, a division of
Warner Music Group. •
Amadeus Orchestra version, with one picture each provided by
Alastair King, Roger May,
Tolib Shakhidi, David Butterworth,
Philip Mackenzie, Simon Whiteside, Daryl Griffiths, Natalia Villanueva, James McWilliam and Julian Kershaw. (2012, for large orchestra.) •
Jason Nett (2022, for Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra "The Pictures Project", based on Mussorgsky's original manuscript.)
Arrangements for concert band •
Erik W. G. Leidzén for the
Edwin Franko Goldman band (1941; in three parts. Part 1 includes Promenade, The Old Castle, Tuileries, Bydło, and Ballet of the Unhatched Chickens, part 2 includes The Market Place at Limoges and Catacombs, and part 3 includes The Hut Of Baba-Yaga and The Great Gate of Kyiv.); published by
Carl Fischer, Inc. •
James Curnow (1985; for large wind ensemble; abridged version.) •
Paul Lavender for the
United States Marine Band (2012; transcription of Ravel's original orchestration.) • Marius Hesby for the Royal Norwegian navy band (2023; 24 winds and 3 percussion; complete, based on Mussorgsky’s manuscript)
Arrangements for other ensembles Arrangements of
Pictures at an Exhibition for performing ensembles other than orchestra: •
Giuseppe Becce (1930; for piano trio.) •
Vladimir Horowitz (1946; revised version for solo piano.) •
Ralph Burns (1957; for jazz orchestra.) •
Allyn Ferguson (ca. 1963; for jazz orchestra.) •
Calvin Hampton (1967; for organ.) •
Emerson, Lake & Palmer (1971; rock group, lyrics written by
Greg Lake.); see
Pictures at an Exhibition (Emerson, Lake & Palmer album). •
Harry van Hoof (ca. 1972; brass ensemble; "The Bogatyr Gates" only.) •
Keith Chapman (1972; for the
Wanamaker Organ.) •
Isao Tomita (1966; various instruments for the
Osamu Tezuka animated film.) • Isao Tomita (1975; for synthesizer.) •
Elgar Howarth (ca. 1977; for brass ensemble. Recorded in 1977 by the
Philip Jones Brass Ensemble for Argo.) •
Ray Barretto (1979; "The Old Castle" for Latin-jazz band.) •
Arthur Wills (1970s; for organ. Recorded in 1980 by Wills on the Organ of Ely Cathedral for Hyperion.) •
Jon Faddis (1978; for
trumpet, in his solo album
Good and Plenty with the track name "Promenade".) •
Kazuhito Yamashita (1980; for
classical guitar.) •
Henk de Vlieger (1981; for
percussion ensemble.) •
Hugh Lawson (1983; for jazz trio.) •
Jean Guillou (ca. 1988; for organ.) •
Peng Xiuwen (1989; for modern
Chinese orchestra; Recorded in 1990 by China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra, China Record Co. CCD90-085.) •
Jevgenija Lisicina (ca. 1991; for three pipe organs; ca. 1997 for organ and 14 percussion instruments.) •
Tangerine Dream (1994; Promenade for trumpet, saxophone, horns and synthesizer; on their
Turn of the Tides album.) •
Mekong Delta (1997; for metal band.) •
Christian Lindberg (ca. 2000; for trombone and piano.) •
Simon Proctor (ca. 2000; for euphonium & tuba quartet, retitled
Miniatures at an Exhibition.) •
Wayne Lytle, for the DVD
Animusic 2 under the title
Cathedral Pictures (2005; for synthesizer; Promenade, "Baba Yaga" and "The Bogatyr Gates".) •
Cameron Carpenter (2006, for organ.) •
Walter Hilgers (2006; for large brass ensemble, percussion, and two harps.) •
Glass Duo (2007; for glass harp.) •
Slav de Hren (2008; for a punk-jazz band and vocal ensemble. Some of the pieces are complete transcriptions, others are improvisations on the original theme.) •
Friendly Rich (2009; for avant-garde cabaret jazz ensemble.) •
Clarice Assad (2009; for string orchestra, piano and percussion.) •
Yaron Gottfried (2011; for jazz trio and orchestra.) •
Robert W. Smith (2012; Madison Scouts Drum And Bugle Corps.) •
Neil Cicierega (2014; for
Smash Mouth–based mashup album "
Mouth Sounds"; Promenade, made up of samples taken from "
All Star" by Smash Mouth.) •
William Schmidt (date unknown; for saxophone choir.); •
Andrés Segovia (date unknown; for guitar; "The Old Castle" only.) •
Ward Swingle (date unknown; for vocal ensemble, double bass and percussion;
Limoges only.) • Boris Ivanov (2018; for synthesizers and rock band; entire suite.) •
Guillermo Laporta (2023; for flute, violin, viola, cello and piano.) == Stage adaptations ==