Voyager IV to Kick Off Pictures At An Exhibition Tour on January 24th

Mission Overview
Keeping in tradition with mankind’s need to explore and bring unity and hope to the world, Voyager IV aims to do just that with their upcoming tour.

52 years ago Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to successfully orbit the Moon and return to Earth. 52 years later Voyager IV takes flight with a debut album under their belt while eagerly awaiting fans will soon witness first hand the unity, hope, and peace that music brings. 

Apollo 8 Crew: 
Commander Frank Borman 
Command Module Pilot James A. Lovell Jr.
Lunar Module Pilot William A. Anders 

Voyager IV Crew: 
Piano & Keyboards Marcus Schinkel
Vocals & Drums Johannes Kuchta 
Bass Fritz Roppel
Drums Wim de Vries

Pictures At An Exhibition Tour Dates

Friday, January 24, 2020, at 8 PM 
Hypothalamus Auf dem Thie 15, 48431 Rheine, Germany

Saturday, January 24, 2020, at 8 PM 
Jahnhalle Nordenham Jahnstr. 20, 26954 Stadt Nordenham, Niedersachsen, Germany

Friday, January 31, 2020, at 8 PM 
Harmonie-Bonn Frongasse 28-30, 53121 Bonn, Germany

Saturday, February 1, 2020, at 8 PM 
Bürgerhaus Nistertal Westerwald, Germany

Sunday, February 2, 2020, at 8 PM 
Bürgerhaus Nistertal Westerwald, Germany

Thursday, February 6, 2020, at 8 PM 
Scheuer Wallbacher Straße 2, 65510 Idstein

Friday, February 7, 2020, at 8 PM 
Kantine Köln Neusser Landstr. 2, 50735 Cologne, Germany

Saturday, February 8, 2020, at 8 PM 
Riff Bochum

Friday, February 21, 2020, at 8 PM 
Kesselhaus & Maschinenhaus (Kulturbrauerei) Schönhauser Allee 36, 10435 Berlin, Germany

Friday, April 17, 2020, at 8 PM 
Unna Lindenbrauerei 59174 Kamen

What you can expect

Voyager IV has won awards in 3 categories at the 2019 German Rock & Pop Price Awards 
Johannes Kuchta: best progressive rock singer, 1st place 
Marcus Schinkel: Best keyboardist, 2nd place. 
Samuel Goldenberg: best progressive rock song, 1st place, from the album Pictures at an Exhibition

What’s being said about Pictures At An Exhibition
Courageous, diggin’ deep in the universe of Modest Mussorgsky and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, masterfully, creative, without wanting too much, absolutely admirable and worth listening!
(Jazzrock TV)

“Really enjoyed the new album! Some very bold and adventurous avenues taken with Modest Mussorgsky. I always enjoy listening to someone’s interpretations of otherwise well-known themes. I like the fact that you incorporated those ideas in your own way and varied them enough to make it your own. Well done!”
Marc Bonilla (recorded 4 albums with Keith Emerson)

Further Voyager IV Information Can Be Found Online
Official Website: http://voyageriv.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcusschinkel.de/
MRR Artist Profile: https://mrrmusic.com/voyager-iv/

Also Available at
Amazon Germany: amzn.to/2PFn20B
Amazon USA: amzn.to/2WADyAj
Bandcamp: bit.ly/2qgF6U0
CD Baby: bit.ly/2N9qmzp
iTunes: apple.co/2WAHqkU
Spotify: spoti.fi/2pqakbx

Voyager IV – Pictures at an Exhibition – Melodic Revolution Records

I can’t believe there are any progheads out there who don’t have at least one copy of the ELP album in their collection, and if they are anything like me then they probably have it on vinyl, a couple of different CD releases as well as the accompanying DVD.

But of course the music which is the inspiration for this album is from far earlier, in fact in many ways it dates all the way back to 1868 when composer Modest Mussorgsky first met artist, architect, and designer Viktor Hartmann, who gave him two of the pictures that later formed the basis of the inspiration. When Hartmann passed away at the age of 39, Mussorgsky was affected quite badly, and this led to him writing the score in just three weeks. However, a version wasn’t published until some five years after his own death, and it wasn’t until the 50th Anniversary of that event that a complete score was produced.

Over the years it has been recorded multiple times, and within the progressive scene, it was, of course, the inspiration for ELP’s 1971 live album.

Now, nearly fifty years on from that, and some 150 years since the original paintings were given to Mussorgsky, we have a new version from German quartet Voyager IV. The line-up is Marcus Schinkel (piano and keyboards), Johannes Kuchta (vocals and drums), Fritz Roppel (bass) and Wim de Vries (drums). That they have been inspired to undertake this piece of work due to the ELP release is never in doubt, as although they do have ten tracks inspired by the original classical work, they also include both Lake’s “Lucky Man’ and King Crimson’s “I Talk To The Wind” which of course also featured Lake on vocals.

In some ways it is an album which confused me quite a great deal, just because they have been inspired by the original score, just as Emerson was, which means that some themes are familiar yet others are quite different as apart from the two numbers already mentioned the rest were all composed either by Schinkel or in collaboration with Kuchta. Also, there is no use whatsoever of guitar on the album (although there are two drummers it doesn’t sound to me as if they are both playing at the same time, although that could be different in concert), plus this is a studio album which has allowed some layering. Then in Roppel they have a bassist who uses a six-string as his instrument of choice, and sounds to me as if he is approaching music from a jazz background and is certainly not content just to be pinning down the bottom end but is adding his own styles and runs.

It is as bombastic as one would expect, but not heavy-handed, and songs such as “Bydlo” are incredibly accessible, exciting and invigorating. It would also be wrong of me not to mention the packaging on this release – as it comes as a hardback digipak containing multiple pages of photos and lyrics, quite something for what I believe is a debut release. This really is the total package, and fans of the original, ELP, Isao Tomita or any of the many other artists who have taken this as inspiration will find much on here to enjoy. Well worth discovering.
8/10

by Kev Rowland

German Art-rock Band Voyager IV release Modest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures At An Exhibition” on Keith Emerson’s 75th Birthday

Pictures at an Exhibition was released on Saturday, November 2nd, 2019 on what was Keith Emerson’s 75th Birthday, the specific date for this release was chosen to pay homage to a man who jettisoned classical music into the modern era. Voyager IV has now surpassed and expanded the definition of this classical piece. Pictures at an Exhibition is based on the Compositions of Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky (1874). Like so many of this magnificent composer’s works, they were written quickly but not published, it would be 50 years after his death before a scholarly edition of this work would be published.

Pictures at an Exhibition a piece for virtuoso pianists; Maurice Ravel was commissioned for orchestration of the work in 1922 Pictures at an Exhibition came alive in a new way. This orchestration continues to be chosen for performance and recordings.

Enter, English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, who would bring this work to a new generation with their live album release: Pictures at an Exhibition (November 1971). It is a recording of the band’s arrangement of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition which was performed at Newcastle City Hall on 26 March 1971.

History is now rewritten through the re-interpretation and release of Pictures at an Exhibition

Track Listing
  01. Promenade
02. Samuel Goldenberg & Schmuyle (From My Point Of View )
03. Gnomus
04. Il Vecchio Castello (Photophobia)
05. Promenade II (From The Land Of Feathers)
06. Tuileries
07. Bydlo (The Bullock Cart)
08. Lucky Man
09. Catoacombae/Cum Mortus In Lingua Mortua
10. Baba Yaga
11. The Great Gates Of Kiev (Daedalus Calling)
12. Talk To The Wind 

Production Notes
Arranged by Marcus Schinkel & Johannes KuchtaRecorded October 14-19 2018 at EMI / Maarwegstudio Cologne, Germany by John Caffery, Chris Gardiner, and Franz-Wieland FiltzProduced, mixed, and mastered by John CafferyCo-produced by Marcus Schinkel & Johannes Kuchta Cover Design & Layout by Lieve Vanderschaeve 

Band Members
Marcus Schinkel: Piano & keyboards
Johannes Kuchta: Vocals & Drums
Fritz Roppel: Bass
Wim de Vries: Drums

Amazon Germany: amzn.to/2PFn20B
Amazon USA: amzn.to/2WADyAj
Bandcamp: bit.ly/2qgF6U0
CD Baby: bit.ly/2N9qmzp
iTunes: apple.co/2WAHqkU
Spotify: spoti.fi/2pqakbxFurther Information Can Be Found OnlineOfficial Website: http://voyageriv.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcusschinkel.de/MRR Artist Profile: https://mrrmusic.com/voyager-iv/

Voyager IV to release Pictures at an Exhibition an ​album based on compositions of Modest Mussorgsky

Almost 50 years after the version of ELP and 100 years after Ravel’s orchestral version we proudly announce a new decade of jazz-rock meets classical music, grand piano meets distortion synthesizer, singer-songwriter meets freak out!
– Marcus Schinkel

Voyager IV is a German progressive space rock band with elements of Classical & Jazz music…

Cover Design & Layout by Lieve Vanderschaeve

Track List
01. Promenade
02. Samuel Goldenberg & Schmuyle (From My Point Of View )
03. Gnomus
04. Il Vecchio Castello (Photophobia)
05. Promenade II (From The Land Of Feathers)
06. Tuileries
07. Bydlo (The Bullock Cart) 
08. Lucky Man
09. Catoacombae/Cum Mortus In Lingua Mortua 
10. Baba Yaga
11. The Great Gates Of Kiev (Daedalus Calling)
12. Talk To The Wind

Production Notes
Arranged by Marcus Schinkel & Johannes Kuchta
Recorded October 14-19 2018 at EMI / Maarwegstudio Cologne, Germany by John Caffery, Chris Gardiner, and Franz-Wieland Filtz
Produced, mixed, and mastered by John Caffery
Co-produced by Marcus Schinkel & Johannes Kuchta

Band Members
Marcus Schinkel: Piano & keyboards 
Johannes Kuchta: Vocals & Drums 
Fritz Roppel: Bass
Wim de Vries: Drums

Further Information Can Be Found Online
Official Website: http://voyageriv.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marcusschinkel.de/
MRR Artist Profile: https://mrrmusic.com/voyager-iv/

Watch the promo live vido Il Vecchio Castello (Photophobia) here.