"Coincidence is said to be a Godwink. A good friend called to ask if I was still interested in a stack of classical LPs from a concert pianist who had passed away. When I walked around the house of the deceased pianist, it seemed as if his ghost was still wandering around. The record collection was simply unique. Coincidence or not, but suddenly my eye was caught by an old LP from 1955 "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Russian composer Moussorgsky, performed by pianist Eugene Malinin. The cover was very similar to the cover of the eponymous Emerson Lake & Palmer album. I knew that the music on ELP's album was based on the works of composer Moussorgsky. But I never expected the similarity between both record sleeves. The ELP album evokes many memories. My brother brought home the LP in 1971. I endlessly heard the opening tune Promenade which later turned into ripping synthesizer and organ sounds. However, I was not at all interested in the cover and the story behind it. Modest Moussorgsky was a Russian composer born in 1839. He belonged to the group of artists "The Mighty Hope". This group committed to pure Russian music based on folk songs. His friend Victor Hartmann, a Russian architect and painter, died in 1873. His death at a young age was a great shock to Moussorgsky, who decided to honor his friend with a composition in remembrance. He found inspiration at an exhibition of Hartmann's paintings in St. Petersburg. Moussorgsky chose ten of the most striking paintings and composed a piano piece for each painting. These pieces were linked together by interludes, which he called 'Promenades'. These have the same theme, but reflect Moussorgsky's changing mood as he walked from painting to painting. Moussorgsky did not get rich. His life was quickly deteriorated by Russian vodka. At the age of 42 he died alone and penniless in St. Petersburg. It was not until much later that various composers and musicians edited his "Pictures". The piece became famous in 1922 through the adaptation of the French composer Ravel. And keyboardist Keith Emerson made the piece world famous among progrock fans. It has become one of ELP's classics. There are several progrock musicians who made a connection with classical music. Keith Emerson took the lead in this. With the Nice he has adapted several pieces by Tchaikovsky. Rick Wakeman of Yes' 'borrowed' Grieg's "Peer Gynts Suite" for his solo album "Journey to the Center of the Earth" . And on Yes' "Fragile" he arranged Brahms's 4th symphony. Nice detail about this is that there are some misprints of a German pressing where the title is called 'Cans and Beans' instead of Cans and Brahms. And in the eighties, Talk Talk frontman Mark Hollis used melodies from Debussy. Back to the ELP cover. On the outside the paintings are blank and on the inside they are drawn by a good friend of the band members, illustrator William Neal. He had previously designed the artwork for Emerson Lake & Palmer covers. The titles of these paintings are the same as those of Hartmann's, such as The great Gates of Kiev, The Curse of Baba Yaga and The Gnome. Why the original Hartmann paintings are not on the inside was not quite clear to me. I suspect it had to do with copyright. Whether Keith Emerson and William Neal had any knowledge of the cover from 1955, I was also unable to find out. I'd like to think it's fate, a Godwink. Or one from the deceased pianist, I don't really care. I have added a beautiful collection once more and will fully immerse myself in the relationship between progressive rock music and classical symphonic works. By Gerrit-Jan Vrielink