Pictures at an Exhibition (Stokowski orchestration)

Leopold Stokowski's orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky was completed in 1939 and premiered later that year, on 17 November, by the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Stokowski introduced the Ravel orchestration of Pictures to Philadelphia audiences in 1929, but was not fully satisfied with the arrangement, feeling it needed a more Slavic sound.

Stokowski omits two movements, "Tuileries" and "Limoges", because he felt they showed too much French influence and had a suspicion they might have been composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, whose 1886 edition was the first published version of Mussorgsky's work.

Stokowski's opening "Promenade" is less showy than Ravel's brass fanfare; it is instead mainly given to low strings and woodwinds, creating deep, chorale-like textures.

This movement again shows a conscious difference from Ravel's: The Frenchman's is a pounding, brutal, percussionistic piece, while Stokowski's is more a grotesque scherzo—a danse macabre.

This movement sums up two important characteristics of Stokowki's orchestration: His giant, organlike chords (it actually uses an organ) and his penchant for gong and bell sounds.

In the chorale sections, Stokowski ignores Mussorgsky's marking senza espressivo (without expression) and gives them to a luscious string choir.

Unlike Ravel's, Stokowski's quarter note triplets in the penultimate "Gate" statement are audible, played fanfare-like in the brass and timpani.

Two 'live' Stokowski performances have also been released on CD: (a) with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1962 on Pristine Audio; and (b) with the BBC Symphony from 1963 (its UK Premiere) on Music & Arts.