Expert: Donald - 12/27/2006

Question
HI,
I was listening to the promenade and The Great Gate of Kiev by Mussorgsky and wanted to know your reaction(emotions,feelings,etc).
One of my friends told me that the music can tell a story.I don't understand. HOw can music tell a story.I know that each movement is supposed to represent the composer stopping at a different picture.Does the music do this?
Please explain.
Thank you so much for your insight.  

Answer
Hi Jeff,

Your question is very thought provoking and intelligent! You are asking a question that is addressed by the area of philosophy known as Aesthetics. Aesthetics is basically the study of beauty. In music, many questions like this seem very subjective on the surface. In fact, scientists are beginning to probe the relationship between music and brain response. Recent studies have indicated that the brain releases dopamine and seratonin in response to certain musical stimuli. This is seen as a possible treatment for depression. Thus, our body does physically react to certain musical stimulus.

In addition, volumes have been written about how music causes a unique response in humans as compared to other stimuli. This should be the primary defense for music in school curriculum: that music is unique in its ability to influence and affect human existence. It is a unifying force that permeates every nationality and cultural background. Just imagine how life would be different without music and then you can begin to understand the weight of your question.

This particular set of pieces by Mussorgsky was composed to invoke a specific imagery within the listener. In this case, the majesty of the great gates. This type of music is called Program Music for this reason. In a way, this somewhat limits the response of a listener because it directs your attention to a specific place. Absolute Music (such as Beethoven's Fifth Symphony) allows the listener to create a more individualized response, since it is not intended to draw attention to anything in particular.

As I say, volumes have been written on this subject. It is aesthetic response, perhaps, that draws us to music in the first place. Have you ever heard a song that made you remember a time and place long since departed? This feeling that you can recall in and through the music is of what your friends are speaking. "The Song Remembers When", performed by Trisha Yearwood, is an example of a contemporary song that addresses this phenomenon.

Sometimes a composer uses particular melodic motives to call a particular thought to mind. Wagner did this in his Ring cycle of operas. Tchaikovsky also used this technique in the Fantasy Overture about Romeo and Juliet. Schubert brought programmatic techniques to bear in the art song, "Erlkonig". Perhaps the most famous symphony composed as a program is the Berlioz "Symphony Fantastique". The fourth movement is particularly famous for the beheading and subsequent falling of the head to the floor of the main character. It is worth listening to and studying, if only for that stunning moment.

In short, Program Music is specifically designed to tell stories. Mussorgsky, and many others, have used varying techniques to accomplish that end. It might be helpful to read some specific interpretations of "Pictures at an Exhibition" to find specific commentaries of Mussorgsky's musical choices.

I hope that this has been of some help to you! Thank you for such an intelligent question, and please feel free to contact me if I can be of service to you again.

Best regards,

Donald