"Pictures At An Exhibition"

Of a wild range of composers and pieces of classical music I enjoy, I have a particular fondness for Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition" - especially the "Promenade" part. (Which, by the way, can be listened from the little blue box at the bottom of this blog's menu).

Mussorgsky composed this piece describing paintings with sound to commemorate a good friend of his, the russian architect Vicktor Hartmann.
Following Hartmann's early death from an anneurism at the age of only 39, an exhibition of over 400 of his paintings was displayed in the Academy of Fine Arts in St Petersburg, in February and March 1874 (100 years before I was born). This inspired Mussorgsky to compose his suite

Dr. Osamu Tezuka was apparently a big fan as well, and decided to explore the idea behind Mussorgsky's famous piece.
Disney's concept of creating animation for notorious works of classical music produced the masterpiece "Fantasia", released in 1940. Tezuka produced this 32-minute film in 1966 following the same principle, describing wildly imaginative characters of everyday life in a variety of drawing styles, following the cadence of Mussorgky's melodies to portray them with a very critical tone.

Some are decidedly NOT "Tezuka-like", as they differ radically from his famous style for character designs. Others like the "Gardener of Artificial Landscapes" begin to show some resemblance to his most popular designs. Actually, the variety of styles is astounding! It surely impresses you with the idea you're watching several paintings and drawings from various artists come to life.

So, sit back, relax and take some time to enjoy this little-known excellent example of animation art and creativity!