Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839 – 1881) was a
Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five".
He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic
period. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical
identity, often in deliberate defiance of the
established conventions of Western music. Many of his
works were inspired by Russian history, Russian
folklore, and other national themes. Such works include
the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral tone poem Night
on Bald Mountain and the ...(+)
Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839 – 1881) was a
Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five".
He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic
period. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical
identity, often in deliberate defiance of the
established conventions of Western music. Many of his
works were inspired by Russian history, Russian
folklore, and other national themes. Such works include
the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral tone poem Night
on Bald Mountain and the piano suite Pictures at an
Exhibition.
For many years Mussorgsky's works were mainly known in
versions revised or completed by other composers. Many
of his most important compositions have posthumously
come into their own in their original forms, and some
of the original scores are now also available. In a
July 5, 1867 letter to Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, Modest
Mussorgsky wrote "(I have) finished St. John's Night on
Bald Mountain, a musical picture with the following
program: (1) assembly of the witches, their chatter and
gossip; (2) cortege of Satan; (3) unholy gratification
of Satan; and (4) witches' sabbath." Mussorgsky
proclaims "in form and character my composition is
Russian and original. Its tone is hot and chaotic....
St. John's Night is something new and is bound to
produce a satisfactory impression...."
When Mussorgsky became a composition student of Mily
Balakirev in December 1857, the 18-year-old was given a
pair of assignments on the spot: write a scherzo and
sonata for solo piano. While Mussorgsky was eventually
able to piece together with Balakirev's help a Scherzo
in C sharp minor, both his attempts at sonata
apparently failed: neither the E flat major or the F
sharp minor sonatas exist except as quotations of the
main themes of the opening movements in letters to
Balakirev. And given Mussorgsky's self-confessed
"Russian laziness" coupled with his incipient
alcoholism and his attacks of what he called
"mysticism," it is doubtful that much more of the works
ever existed beyond those quotations.
Thus is it likely that the only actual sonata-allegro
form movement Mussorgsky ever actually composed was the
Allegro assai from his Sonata for piano, 4 hands from
1860. In his biography of the composer, M.D.
Calvocoressi asserts that, "though obviously written
only as an exercise, (the Allegro) is interesting as
the only extant composition of Mussorgsky's in sonata
form, indeed his only large-scale essay in absolute
instrument music," and he closes with the damning line
"for which it conclusively demonstrated his
inaptitude." Calvocoressi does not exaggerate:
Mussorgsky's ideas are not capable of development and
his sonata does not proceed through development but by
uncertain fits and starts.
Although there were supposedly three additional
movements for the Sonata for Two Pianos, only a scherzo
was apparently ever put on paper and it is no more than
a transcription of his Scherzo in C sharp minor down a
semi-tone to C minor and expanded slightly for two
players at a single keyboard.
Although originally created for Piano (4 hands), I
created this Interpretation of the Scherzo: Allegro non
troppo (Mvt. 2) from the Sonata in C Major (IMM 63) for
Winds (Flute, Oboe, Bb Clarinet, French Horn& Bassoon)
& Strings (2 Violins, Viola, Cello & Bass).
SHEET MUSIC