Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at an Exhibition': Identifying the Expressive Narrative through Comparisons with Vocal Literature

This document reveals connections between Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and his vocal literature in order to provide a new perspective on the expressive narrative of the piano cycle. Scholars often treat Pictures at an Exhibition as an isolated monument apart from Mussorgsky's typical endeavors, and this insulated approach has resulted in somewhat dubious and poorly substantiated assertions about the cycle's expressive content. In order to craft a more reliable and penetrating view of the cycle, this document incorporates evidence from Mussorgsky's vocal works as well as Russian folk, chant, and choral music in order to clarify and challenge long-held beliefs about the work while providing new and alternative meanings for the musical text.;There has yet to be a study which systematically examines the relationships between Pictures and the composer's vocal literature. What vocal music provides, however, is an intrinsically direct correlation between music and text, binding the musical devices with more concretely descriptive meaning from the composer. This relationship serves as a basis for identifying the expressive roles associated with specific musical textures, which can then be connected back to the piano cycle. Through exploring parallels between Pictures and corresponding textures in vocal repertoire, this document by association reveals and validates expressive concepts in Pictures that would otherwise not have textual grounding in the piano cycle alone.