Pictures at an Exhibition
It is known that Mussorgsky created Pictures at an Exhibition under the strong impression of Viktor Hartmann's exhibition. It was that impression and the composer's personal perception that became the program for his pieces and determined their nature and content.
One of the most interesting interpretations of Pictures was Kandinsky's version, created for the Friedrich Theatre in Dessau (1928). His complex stage composition presented an interaction of scenery, music, color, light, geometric shapes, and movement. Kandinsky saw the future in the synthesis of the arts, and the engine of this synthesis was an innermost desire: "...each art is separated from the other, but on the other hand, they are combined in their innermost tendencies. Thus, it is found that every art has its own strength which cannot be substituted for another. Therefore, we finally arrive at the encroachment of the power of the various arts upon one another. From this inner tendency will arise, in the future, the truly monumental art" (Concerning the Spiritual in Art, 1910). The most natural embodiment of this idea was a stage composition consisting of three "movements" — musical, scenic, and dance.
Pictures at an Exhibition occupies a special place among Kandinsky's stage works. It was the only time he agreed to use a pre-existing score. He was driven by that very innermost desire he heard in the music. "By no means was it 'program' music. If it 'shows' something anyway, then it is not the pictures themselves, but only the experiences of Mussorgsky that far exceed the 'content' of painting and find a purely musical form. This was why I gladly accepted an invitation to stage the musical piece which I received from the then manager of Friedrich Theatre in Dessau..."
On April 4, 1928, the premiere at the Friedrich Theatre in Dessau was a tremendous success. The production was rather cumbersome, as the sets were supposed to move and the hall lighting was to change constantly in keeping with Kandinsky's scrupulous instructions. The music was played on the piano. Unfortunately, the original stage sets have not survived; all that remains are the sixteen watercolors by Kandinsky and the piano reduction with instructions for what was to happen on stage.
