Editing Pictures at an Exhibition (section)

=== 8. Catacombs (Roman Tomb) – With the Dead in a Dead Language ===
[[File:Catacombae.PNG|thumb|"Catacombae" and "Cum mortuis in lingua mortua" from Mussorgsky's manuscript]]
Stasov's comment: "Hartmann represented himself examining the Paris catacombs by the light of a lantern."

The movement is in two distinct parts. Its two sections consist of a nearly static Largo consisting of a sequence of block chords with elegiac lines adding a touch of melancholy and a more flowing, gloomy Andante that introduces the Promenade theme into the scene.

The first section's alternating loud and soft chords evoke the grandeur, stillness, and echo of the catacombs. The second section suggests a merging of observer and scene as the observer descends into the [[catacombs]]. Mussorgsky's manuscript of "Catacombs" (shown right) displays two pencilled notes, in Russian: "NB – Latin text: With the dead in a dead language" and, along the right margin, "Well may it be in Latin! The creative spirit of the dead Hartmann leads me towards the skulls, invokes them; the skulls begin to glow softly."

{{Block indent|<score sound="1" lang="lilypond">
{\new PianoStaff <<
\new Staff 
    \relative c' <<
    { 
        \clef bass 
        \key c\major
        \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t 
        \tempo "Largo" 4=72
        \time 3/4
        b2.\fermata
        g\fermata
        g'\fermata
        b,~
        b
        ais(
        b)
        cis\fermata
        d(
        b)
        <fis cis' fis>\fermata
    }
    \\
    \relative c, {
        <b b'>2.\ff
        <g g'>\p
        <g' g'>_\markup { \italic "cresc." }
        <d d' g~ fis'^~>(\ff
        <cis cis' g' fis'>_\markup { \dynamic "p" \italic "dim." }
        <c! c'! g'~ fis'^~>\ff
        <b b' g' fis'>_\markup { \dynamic "p" \italic "dim." }
        <bes bes' g' fis'>)\ff
        <a a' fis'~ fis'^~>(_\markup { \italic "dim." }
        <g g' fis' fis'>_\markup { \dynamic "p" \italic "dim." }
        <fis fis'>)\pp
    }
    >>
>>}
</score>}}