Modeste Moussorgski (1839–1881)
The most original member of “The Five”, composer of “Boris Godunov” and “Pictures at an Exhibition”, in search of a raw, truthful Russian music.
From a landowning family, Mussorgsky first became an officer in the Guards, then a civil servant. A largely self-taught musician, he joined the circle around Mily Balakirev later known as “The Five” (with Borodin, Cui and Rimsky-Korsakov), which aimed to found a national Russian music.
His masterpiece, the opera Boris Godunov, after Pushkin, was premiered in 1874. In the same year he wrote for piano the Pictures at an Exhibition, in memory of his friend the painter Viktor Hartmann. Ravel made its famous orchestration in 1922.
Undermined by alcoholism, he died in St Petersburg in 1881, leaving several unfinished works that his friends, notably Rimsky-Korsakov, completed and revised.
His music, rough and sincere, imitates the inflections of the Russian language and the sounds of bells and choirs. At the piano it calls for a powerful, orchestral sound, violent contrasts and a strong sense of theatre.
Piano sheet music (5)
- Pictures at an Exhibition — Catacombae · level 4
- Pictures at an Exhibition — movement 6 · level 5
- Pictures at an Exhibition — Bydlo · level 6
- Pictures at an Exhibition — Il Vecchio Castello · level 6
- Pictures at an Exhibition — movement 14 · level 6