Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky

Life of Mussorgsky Born March 21, 1839 in Saint Petersburg Wealthy family Played piano from a young age and wrote his first piano piece and age 12 Graduated from “The Cadet School” in 1856 Suffered from alcoholism Moved toward writing about realism Suffered an early death in march 28, 1881 Life of Mussorgsky

Music Nationalistic composer Inspired by his home land Completed one opera titled Boris Godunov The opera was not well received at first due to the fact it lacked a primma donna Other operas, Khovanshchina and Sorochintsï Fair, were left unfinished upon his death Wrote many works for piano, as well as instrumental works http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AneABJXRym8 Music

Night on Bald Mountain Perhaps Mussorgsky’s best known piece Instrumental work Program music depicts witches and demons gathering on top of a mountain Full of dissonant sounds Nothing this bold had been heard before Mostly in a minor key http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCEDfZgDPS8 Night on Bald Mountain

Boris Godunov Mussorgsky’s only finished opera Forced to make revisions to it at first for it to be played Finished product was well received One of his most popular works Uniquely nationalistic Shows Russia’s decent into anarchy in the early 17th century Aria is not sung by a woman, which was unusual Music tended to have a thick texture to it, many voiced Boris Godunov

Conclusion Died young Had a problem with alcoholism Didn’t have a lot of money upon death Best remembered for Boris Godunov and his instrumental works Paved the way for musicians to experiment with unusual sounds, such as were found in Night on Bald Mountain Conclusion

References http://www.operafolio.com/composer.asp?n=Mussorgsky http://www.classical.net/music/comp.lst/mussorgsky.php http://suite101.com/article/mussorgskys-boris-godunov-a53852 References