Jazzed Up Classical home
Bilder einer Ausstellung album cover

Album guide

Bilder einer Ausstellung

Christof Thewes Undertone Project

Composer
Mussorgsky
Released
2006
Label
JazzHausMusik
Forces
Quartet, Trombone, Reeds
Personnel
Christof Thewes trombone and arrangements, Hartmut Oßwald tenor and soprano saxophone and bass clarinet, Martin Schmidt electric bass and mandolin, Daniel Prätzlich drums and percussion

Mussorgsky wrote Pictures at an Exhibition in response to Viktor Hartmann’s art. Christof Thewes’s version adds another turn to that exchange: painter Thomas Altpeter created a new series of pictures specifically for the Undertone Project’s recording, so the music generated visual art once again.

The quartet is unusually lean for a work so often heard in orchestral colour. Thewes’s trombone, Hartmut Oßwald’s reeds, Martin Schmidt’s electric bass and mandolin, and Daniel Prätzlich’s drums and percussion carry the complete sequence as an exchange among four players.

Hear both

The classical side contains only the source pieces used on the album, in album order. The jazz side presents the complete album whenever a dependable copy can be embedded.

The originalsMussorgsky · classical source works

One complete performance of Mussorgsky’s piano original supplies all sixteen movements in the same order as the album.

Jazzed upChristof Thewes Undertone Project · 2006
Open full album in Spotify

Spotify’s player is here for convenience; the full track listing below remains available to everyone.

Source works

The album’s complete track listing, with each classical source identified and original compositions marked plainly.

  1. Promenade (I)Pictures at an Exhibition — Promenade [1] (Allegro giusto, nel modo russico)
  2. Der GnomPictures at an Exhibition — Gnomus
  3. Promenade (II)Pictures at an Exhibition — Promenade [2] (Moderato comodo e con delicatezza)
  4. Das alte SchlossPictures at an Exhibition — Il vecchio castello
  5. Promenade (III)Pictures at an Exhibition — Promenade [3] (Moderato non tanto, pesamente)
  6. Die Tuilerien (Streit der Kinder nach dem Spiel)Pictures at an Exhibition — Tuileries (Dispute d’enfants après jeux)
  7. Bydlo - Der OchsenkarrenPictures at an Exhibition — Bydło
  8. Promenade (IV)Pictures at an Exhibition — Promenade [4] (Tranquillo)
  9. Ballett der Küchlein in ihren EierschalenPictures at an Exhibition — Ballet des poussins dans leurs coques
  10. Samuel Goldenberg und SchmuylePictures at an Exhibition — “Samuel” Goldenberg und “Schmuÿle”
  11. Promenade (V)Pictures at an Exhibition — Promenade [5], the Promenade Ravel’s orchestration omits
  12. Der Marktplatz von LimogesPictures at an Exhibition — Limoges. Le marché (La grande nouvelle)
  13. Die Katakomben (Römische Gruft)Pictures at an Exhibition — Catacombae (Sepulcrum romanum)
  14. Mit den Toten in einer toten SprachePictures at an Exhibition — Cum mortuis in lingua mortua
  15. Die Hütte der Baba-JagaPictures at an Exhibition — La cabane sur des pattes de poule (Baba-Yaga)
  16. Das große Tor von KiewPictures at an Exhibition — La grande porte de Kiev