Karl U. sent me this one. This is one of my favorite pieces. It was written for piano, but it is most recognizable as an orchestral piece that was orchestrated by Ravel. I used to be able to play the Promenade on the piano. Without further ado here is Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky.
All I can say is, “Wow! Frickin’ wow!” I don’t normal post really long stuff but this is just so good I had to post the entire thing. One Saturday I posted a Japanese guy (I think) playing the Promenade but he was nowhere as good as this dude.
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer did a version of this as well altho’ they took some liberties with it.
FYI, the Japanese guy you’re referring to is Kazuhito Yamashita, and it is he who created this transcription. Jorge may have recorded it better – over twenty years later – but he did not do the transcription.
Yamashita also did transcriptions of Stravinski’s Firebird and Dvorak’s New World Symphony, both of which I like better than Pictures. I don’t think anybody but he has ever managed to play those. Several people do Pictures now, because it is the least challenging of those landmark transcriptions.
Ciao,
George
I think the reason I didn’t like the Yamashita version is that he was way too flamboyant. Enthusiasm is one thing, but to me it was overstated. Bravo for his transcription!
This was a real treat. Thanks Karl U. and Denny.
Cool, this is the first time I’ve heard this done by anyone other than ELP.