• Name: Modest Mussorgsky
• Birthday: 03/21/1839
• Birth Place: Karevo, Pskov, Russia
• Died: 03/28/1881
• Place of Death: St. Petersburg, Russia
• Period: Romantic
• Genre: Classical

Title	Release
Pictures at an Exhibition	2004
(161) Boris Godunov, opera (Rimsky-Korsakov edition) W	2005
(236) Night on Bald Mountain (Noch' na Lïsoy gore), symphonic poem, edited by Rimsky-Korsakov
(337) Pictures at an Exhibition (Kartinki s vïstavski), for piano
(30) Songs & Dances of Death (Pesni y plyaski smerti; 4), song cycle for voice & piano, edited by Rimsky-Korsakov	2008
(13) A Society Tale: The Goat (Svetskaya skazochka: kozyol), song for voice & piano	1993
(3) Cruel Death: An Epitaph (Nadgrabnoye pis'mo), for voice & piano, completed by Karatïgin	1995
(11) Darling Savishna (Svetik Savishna), song for voice & piano	1993
(6) Eremushka's Lullaby (Kolïbel'naya Eryomushki), song for voice & piano	1995
(6) Forgotten (Zabïtïy), ballad for voice & piano	1993
(8) From my tears (Iz slyoz moikh), song for voice & piano	1995
(4) Is Spinning Man's work? (Oy, chest' li to molodtsu pryasti?), song for voice & piano	1995
(3) It Scatters and Breaks (Rassevayetsya, rasstupayetsya), song for voice & piano, edited by Rimsky-Korsakov	1995
(5) Master Haughty (Spes'), song for voice & piano	1995
(3) Misfortune (Ne bozhim gromom udarillo), song for voice & piano, edited by Rimsky-Korsakov	1995
(4) Penny-Paradise (Rayok), satire for voice & piano	1993
(4) Softly the Spirit Flew up to Heaven (Gornimi tikho letela), song for voice & piano, edited by Rimsky-Korsakov	1995
(4) The Feast (Pirushka), for voice & piano	1995
(3) The Misunderstood One (Neponyatnaya), song for voice & piano, edited by Karatïgin	1995
(8) The Seminarist, song for voice & piano	1993
(4) The Vision (Videniye), song for voice & piano, edited by Rimsky-Korsakov	1995
Festive March, for orchestra (intended as insertion for the collaborative opera Mlada) W	1995
(12) Au village (In the Village), quasi fantasia for piano
Boredom (Skuchay), song for voice & piano (Sunless No. 4)	1987
(84) Boris Godunov, opera
(3) Boris Godunov, opera (Shostakovich edition)
(7) Boris Godunov, opera in 4 acts with a prologue (1872 version)	1910
(38) Boris Godunov, opera in 7 scenes (1869 version)
(3) Child's Song (Detskaya pesnya), song for voice & piano	1996
(7) Childhood Memories (Iz vospominaniy detstva), 2 pieces for piano, edited by Karatïgin	2009
(7) Cradle Song (Kolïbel'naya pesnya), song for voice & piano	1952
(28) Dance of the Persian Slaves, for orchestra (from the opera Khovantschina), edited by Rmsky-Korsakov
(60) Dawn on the Moscow River, prelude for orchestra (from Khovanshchina), edited by Rimsky-Korsakov	1992
(2) Dawn on the Moscow River, prelude for orchestra (from Khovanshchina), edited by Shostakovich	1963
(5) Dear one, why are thine eyes sometimes so Cold? (Malyutka), song for voice & piano	1963
(6) Death's cradle-song (Kolïbel'naya), song for voice & piano (Songs & Dances of Death No. 2)
(3) Desire (Zhelaniye), song for voice & piano, edited by Karatïgin	1996
(13) Ein Kinderscherz (A Children's Prank), scherzo for piano	2007
Elegy (Elegiya), song for voice & piano (Sunless No. 5)	1987
(5) Evening Song (Vechernyaya pesenka), song for voice & piano, edited by Karatïgin	1963
(2) Fair Scene from Sorochinskï Fair, for piano, transcribed by Mussorgsky	1992
(7) Field-Marshal Death (Polkovodets), song for voice & piano (Songs & Dances of Death No. 4)
(4) First Punishment (Pervoye nakzaniye), for piano (Childhood Memories No. 2), edited by Karatïgin	1985
(4) Gathering Mushrooms (Po gribï), song for voice & piano	1967
(4) Going to sleep (Na son gryadushchiy), for voice & piano (The Nursery No. 5)	1986
(19) Golitsyn's Jouney, entr'acte for orchestra (from Khovanshchina), transcribed by Rimsky-Korsakov W	1980
(37) Gopak (Hopak), for orchestra, transcribed by Liadov from the opera Sorochintsï Fair
(26) Gopak (Hopak), for piano, transcribed by Mussorgsky from the opera Sorochintsï Fair	2007
(9) Gopak (Hopak), for violin & piano, transcribed by Dushkin from the opera Sorochintsï Fair
(15) Gopak (Hopak), song for voice & piano W	1994
(6) Happy Hour: Capriccio (Vesoylïy chas, I & II), song for voice & piano W	1995

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. ~ James Reel, All Music Guide