Modest Mussorgsky

Of all the composers in the Russian nationalist school known as "The Five" or "The Mighty Handful", Mussorgsky is arguably the greatest. True, Rimsky-Korsakov's highly colourful style left its mark on the likes of Glazunov and Stravinsky, but Mussorgsky's works were invariably ground-breaking, though few in number. Indeed, Mussorgsky's music was too innovative. Rimsky-Korsakov, while recognizing that Mussorgsky was "talented, original, full of so much that was new and vital", asserted that his manuscripts also revealed "absurd, disconnected harmony, ugly part-writing, sometimes strikingly illogical modulation . . . unsuccessful orchestration . . . " and began a dedicated project to make his music more performable, either by completing works Mussorgsky had failed to finish or by the wholesale rewriting of complete compositions. Yet these are the very elements – power, earthiness and sheer invention – that gave Mussorgsky his unique musical personality.

Mussorgsky was born into a land-owning family and led a rather dilettantish early life. He found his way into Balakirev's circle in the late 1850s and began composing in earnest, under Balakirev's guidance. After the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, his family lost much of its wealth and he had ... // 87% Remaining