Pictures at an Exhibition (Emerson, Lake & Palmer album)

Pictures at an Exhibition is a live album by the English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in November 1971 on Island Records. It is a recording of the band's arrangement of Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky, performed live at Newcastle City Hall on 26 March 1971. Keith Emerson wished to arrange the piece after seeing an orchestral performance of it several years before. He bought a copy of the score, and pitched the idea to Greg Lake and Carl Palmer, who agreed to adapt it.

Pictures at an Exhibition
Live album by
ReleasedNovember 1971
Recorded26 March 1971
VenueNewcastle City Hall, Newcastle, England
GenreProgressive rock, classical crossover
Length37:56
LabelIsland (UK)
Cotillion,
Rhino (US)
ProducerGreg Lake
Emerson, Lake & Palmer chronology
Tarkus
(1971)
Pictures at an Exhibition
(1971)
Trilogy
(1972)

Pictures at an Exhibition went to number 3 on the UK Albums Chart and number 10 on the US Billboard 200. In 2001, it was reissued as a remastered edition that included a studio version of the piece.

Recording

The original live album was recorded at Newcastle City Hall in North East England. The opening track of the album was played on a Harrison & Harrison pipe organ which was installed in the City Hall in 1928. The organ console is some way above stage level, at the top of a stepped terrace used for choral performances. The drum roll connecting the opening track to the next served to cover Emerson's dash back down to the stage.

Due to management conflicts, the recording was not released until after Tarkus, their second studio album. The record company was reluctant to release a classical suite as an album, and insisted it be released on their classical music label instead. Fearing that this would lead to poor sales, ELP instead decided to shelve the work. After the success of their second album, however, the label agreed to release Pictures as a budget live album.

There was also a video made of a different live performance (Lyceum Theatre, 9 December 1970). This had a limited theatrical release in June 1972, and a remastered DVD release with Dolby Surround Sound in 2000. Being a live album, sometimes Keith Emerson's voltage-controlled Moog oscillators went out of tune, due to humidity and temperature.

Cover design

Original cover with pictures revealed.

The cover, commissioned to William Neal who designed and painted every canvas, used a gatefold sleeve, depicting on the outside blank picture frames labelled with the titles of the pieces: "The Old Castle", "The Gnome", etc. The paintings were huge oil paintings full of ELP symbolism, like the Tarkus background in the "Hut" and the white dove embossed into the titanium white oil paint in "Promenade" (visible only on the original painting).

On the inner gatefold, all of the paintings were revealed, but one remains blank: "Promenade". The musical piece is not about a picture, but represents a walk through the gallery. Some CD covers use only the "revealed" version.

All of the paintings were later hung at the Hammersmith Town Hall, London, and photographed by Keith Morris and Nigel Marlow, both former graduates from Guildford School of Art.[1]

Arrangement

The band's arrangement of the suite uses only four of the original ten pieces in Mussorgsky's suite, along with the linking "Promenades". The suite was performed live as one continuous piece, with new, group-written sections linking Mussorgsky's original themes, specific track markings on pressings are only a guide. Mussorgsky's original compositions are listed in bold, original compositions are in italic, minor variations are put (between round brackets).

  1. Promenade: Organ solo + drum roll (instrumental, more information see above)
  2. The Gnome: Group (instrumental)
  3. Promenade: Hammond organ and vocal
  4. (interlude: short synthesizer solo, not a Mussorgsky piece)
  5. The Sage: A new picture "drawn" by Lake in the mood of a medieval minnesang, works as sort of romantic prelude to "The Old Castle"
  6. (interlude: Moog-ribbon-controller-solo by Emerson, not a Mussorgsky piece)
  7. The Old Castle: The full group performs a heavily accelerated adaptation of the original theme, leading directly into the next section
  8. Blues Variation, a twelve-bar blues credited to the group, borrowing themes from both The Old Castle itself, and some of the ex tempore work that Emerson had previously performed with The Nice
  9. Promenade: Group (instrumental)
  10. The Hut of Baba Yaga: Group (instrumental)
  11. The Curse of Baba Yaga is a new title to the middle section of the original piece. The music is again an adaption of the original piece, only the lyrics and vocal is completely new to the piece
  12. The Hut of Baba Yaga: Group (instrumental - reprise of no. 11)
  13. The Great Gates of Kiev is also the last picture of Mussorgsky's piano-cycle, with vocals and lyrics added by the group. The piece features a refrain in the middle containing Hammond organ feedback.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Christgau's Record GuideD+[3]
Rolling Stone(unfavorable)[4]
The Daily VaultB+[5]
Sound & Vision[6]
Sea of Tranquility[7]

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[8]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Promenade"Modest Mussorgsky, arranged by Keith Emerson1:58
2."The Gnome"Mussorgsky, Carl Palmer4:18
3."Promenade"Mussorgsky, arranged by Greg Lake1:23
4."The Sage"Lake4:42
5."The Old Castle"Mussorgsky, Emerson2:33
6."Blues Variation"Emerson, Lake, Palmer4:22
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Promenade"Mussorgsky, arranged by Emerson1:29
8."The Hut of Baba Yaga"Mussorgsky, arranged by Emerson1:12
9."The Curse of Baba Yaga"Emerson, Lake, Palmer4:10
10."The Hut of Baba Yaga"Mussorgsky, arranged by Emerson1:06
11."The Great Gates of Kiev"Mussorgsky, Lake6:37
12."Nut Rocker"Tchaikovsky, Kim Fowley, arranged by Emerson, Lake, Palmer4:26
2001 Remaster Bonus Track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Pictures at an Exhibition" (Studio version)*
  • "Promenade" 1:44
  • "The Gnome" 2:07
  • "Promenade" 1:46
  • "The Sage" 3:08
  • "The Hut of Baba Yaga" 1:17
  • "The Great Gates of Kiev" 5:26"
Mussorgsky, Emerson, Lake, Palmer15:28

* The studio version, recorded in 1993, was released on The Return of the Manticore box set and some pressings of the 1994 album In the Hot Seat.

2005 Deluxe Edition Bonus Track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
13."Pictures at an Exhibition" (Medley from the Isle of Wight Festival 1970)
  • "Promenade" (Instrumental)
  • "The Gnome"
  • "Promenade" (Vocal)
  • "The Sage"
  • "The Old Castle" (Not listed in booklet)
  • "Blues Variation" (Not listed in booklet)
  • "Promenade" (Not listed in booklet)
  • "The Hut of Baba Yaga"
  • "The Great Gates of Kiev"
Mussorgsky, Emerson, Lake, Palmer35:17

2016 Deluxe Edition

2016 Deluxe Edition - CD one - Original 1971 album - 2016 remaster - plus bonus
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Promenade"Modest Mussorgsky, arranged by Keith Emerson1:58
2."The Gnome"Mussorgsky, Carl Palmer4:18
3."Promenade"Mussorgsky, arranged by Greg Lake1:23
4."The Sage"Lake4:42
5."The Old Castle"Mussorgsky, Emerson2:33
6."Blues Variation"Emerson, Lake, Palmer4:22
7."Promenade"Mussorgsky, arranged by Emerson1:29
8."The Hut of Baba Yaga"Mussorgsky, arranged by Emerson1:12
9."The Curse of Baba Yaga"Emerson, Lake, Palmer4:10
10."The Hut of Baba Yaga"Mussorgsky, arranged by Emerson1:06
11."The Great Gates of Kiev"Mussorgsky, Lake6:37
12."Nut Rocker"Tchaikovsky, Kim Fowley, arranged by Emerson, Lake, Palmer4:26
13."Pictures at an Exhibition" (Medley)
  • "Promenade" (Instrumental)
  • "The Hut of Baba Yaga"
  • "The Curse of Baba Yaga"
  • "The Hut of Baba Yaga"
  • "The Great Gates of Kiev" (Bonus track - Live at the Mar Y Sol Festival Puerto Rico 4 December 1972)
Mussorgsky, arranged by Emerson, Lake, Palmer 
2016 Deluxe Edition - CD two - Live at the Lyceum Theatre on 8 December 1970
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Promenade"Mussorgsky2:02
2."The Gnome"Mussorgsky, Palmer5:41
3."Promenade"Mussorgsky, Lake1:24
4."The Sage"Lake5:07
5."The Old Castle"Mussorgsky, Emerson4:24
6."Blues Variation"Emerson, Lake, Palmer6:05
7."Promenade"Mussorgsky1:31
8."The Hut of Baba Yaga"Mussorgsky1:15
9."The Curse of Baba Yaga"Emerson, Lake, Palmer4:56
10."The Hut of Baba Yaga"Mussorgsky1:11
11."The Great Gates of Kiev/The End"Mussorgsky, Lake6:52
12."The Barbarian"Béla Bartók, arranged by Emerson, Lake, Palmer5:23
13."Knife-Edge"Emerson, Lake, Leoš Janáček, Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard Fraser8:03
14."Rondo"Dave Brubeck, Emerson, Lee Jackson, David O'List, Brian Davison17:50
15."Nut Rocker"Tchaikovsky, Fowley4:26

Personnel

Emerson, Lake & Palmer

Production

  • Producer: Greg Lake
  • Engineer: Eddy Offord
  • Remastering: Joseph M. Palmaccio
  • Arrangers: Keith Emerson, Greg Lake
  • Recorded using the Pye Mobile Recording Unit
  • Cover design: William Neal
  • Cover painting: William Neal
  • Artwork: William Neal
  • Photography: Nigel Marlow, Keith Morris
  • Lyrics: Greg Lake, Richard Fraser

Charts

The album reached #3 in the UK album chart in December 1971, only by virtue of the fact that budget-priced albums (of which Pictures at an Exhibition was one) were eligible for inclusion at that time. At the beginning of 1972 another change in the chart rules excluded them again, which meant that Pictures disappeared from the chart from #9 after a run of just 5 weeks.

In the US Billboard album chart it peaked at #10 in early 1972.

Charts

Chart (1972) Peak
position
AUS Kent Music Report 19[9]

Single

  • Nut Rocker / The Great Gates of Kiev (USA release)

Other rock adaptations of Mussorgsky

Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition was also performed in different electronic arrangements by both Isao Tomita and Tangerine Dream, and in a heavy metal adaptation by the German band Mekong Delta. The first and third mentioned are more complete versions of the original suite.

References

  1. William Neal Studio Archived 5 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  2. Eder, Bruce (2011). "Pictures at an Exhibition – Emerson, Lake & Palmer | AllMusic". Allmusic. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  3. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: E". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 24 February 2019 via robertchristgau.com.
  4. Bangs, Lester (2 March 1972). "Emerson, Lake & Palmer: Pictures at an Exhibition : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  5. Smith, Dan (2019). "The Daily Vault Music Reviews : Pictures at an Exhibition". dailyvault.com. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  6. Mettler, Mike. "ELP Reissue Series: Emerson, Lake & Palmer; Tarkus; Pictures at an Exhibition". soundandvision.com. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  7. Pardo, Pete. "Emerson Lake & Palmer: Pictures at an Exhibition (remastered)". Sea of Tranquility. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  8. Dimery, Robert (2005), 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, United Kingdom: Universe Publishing, ISBN 1-84403-392-9
  9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 102. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
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