Modeste Moussorgski
His musical education was erratic, he toiled as a civil servant and wrote music only part-time, influenced few if any of his contemporaries, died early from alcoholism, and left a small body of work. Yet Modest Mussorgsky was a towering figure in nineteenth century Russian music. His works exhibit a daring, raw individuality, a unique sound that well-meaning associates tried to conventionalize and smooth over. He is best known for Night on Bald Mountain (bowdlerized by Rimsky-Korsakov), Pictures at an Exhibition (a difficult piano suite orchestrated by Ravel), and the dark, declamatory opera Boris Godunov (polished by Rimsky-Korsakov) -- bastardized works all, yet each one full of arresting harmonies, disturbing colors, and grim celebrations of Russian nationalism.
Mussorgsky died in poverty, but he was born to a wealthy landowning family. Under his mother's tutelage, he developed a facility at the piano, but entered a cadet school in preparation for a military career. He joined a choir and discovered Russian church music, which would profoundly influence his later work.
Upon graduation in 1856, Mussorgsky entered the Russian Imperial Guard. That year he started to socialize with the composers Dargomizhsky and Cui, and through them Balakirev, with whom he began composition lessons. During this period he wrote small piano pieces and songs, and after an emotional crisis in 1858 resigned his commission with the intention of composing full-time. He began to go his own way as a composer in 1861, but was preoccupied helping to manage his family's estate. The decline in his family's fortunes led him to accept low-level civil service positions. He joined a commune with other intellectuals and became a proponent of musical Realism, applying the style to his songs. He had difficulty finishing works in larger formats, but his music circulated widely enough that by the late 1860s he was cast with Balakirev, Cui, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Borodin as part of Russia's "Mighty Handful."
Mussorgsky toiled many years at his masterpiece, Boris Godunov, which reflected in music the inflections of Russian speech and met with great success in 1874. That year he also produced his innovative piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition. Yet his heavy drinking led to his dismissal from government service in 1880. Friends offered some financial help and Mussorgsky occasionally accompanied singers at the piano, but his finances and mental state quickly deteriorated. He died in 1881, leaving it to posterity to sort through and complete his unfinished works of unruly genius.
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Steven Stucky, Berlioz, Musorgsky
Classical - Released by New York Philharmonic on May 15, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chaliapin: the Complete Recordings 1907-1936 Volume 12. British and American Recordings
Classical - Released by Music Online on Sep 17, 2007
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Khovantchina
Leningrad State Opera Orchestra
Opera - Released by Period Records on Sep 24, 1965
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition / St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain
Classical - Released by Celestial Harmonies on Jan 1, 2005
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Mussorgsky - Time
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Jul 18, 2020
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Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Digitally Remastered)
Moscow RTV Large Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Fedoseyev
Classical - Released by EMG Classical on Oct 28, 2014
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Relaxed Holidays
Modeste Moussorgski, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Dimitri Chostakovitch
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on Dec 5, 2020
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Мусоргский, Чайковский, Прокофьев. Песни
Галина Вишневская, Мстислав Ростропович
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga Musica on Jan 1, 1965
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Mussorgsky (Red Classics)
Classical - Released by Cobra Entertainment LLC on Jun 30, 2015
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Russian Spectacular (Vol 2)
Symphonic Music - Released by Stradivari Classics on Jan 1, 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov (Digitally Remastered)
Opera - Released by EMG Classical on Oct 28, 2014
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Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition - A Night on Bare Mountain - Prelude & Dance of the Persian Slaves from "Khovanshchina"
Sofia Symphony Orchestra, Ivan Marinov
Classical - Released by Int - Bertus on Oct 3, 2016
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Pictures At An Exhibition & Night On Bald Mountain
Symphonic Music - Released by Stradivari Classics on Jan 1, 1989
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The Great Gate at Kiev , Das Große Tor (feat. Roger Roman)
Classical - Released by CP Projects - Solo Piano on Apr 4, 2013
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Classics In The Pop Of Treatments. Ride Of The Valkyries
Classical - Released by Russian Compact Disc on Dec 12, 1998
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Modest Musorgsky-Maurice Ravel: Pictures At An Exhibition
Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Maurice Ravel, Modeste Moussorgski, Andre Vandernoot
Classical - Released by Music Manager on Oct 22, 2012
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30 Must-Have Russian Moods
Classical - Released by Cobra Entertainment LLC on Feb 25, 2014
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Grandes Virtuosos De La Música: Leopold Stokowski
Philadelphia Orchestra, Léopold Stokowski
Classical - Released by ns on Aug 12, 2013
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Mussorgsky: Cuadros de una Exposición & Noche en el Monte Pelado
Orquesta Sinfónica de Radio HamburgoHamburg Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester, Oscar Bustonovich
Classical - Released by Genius of Classical Music on Jul 5, 2011
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Rachmaninov - Mussorgsky
Classical - Released by Classic Concert Records on Jul 5, 2005
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