Born:
March 21, 1839, his father was a landowner.
Birthplace:
Karevo, Russia
Died:
March 28, 1881 in St. Petersburg
Also Known As:
His full name is Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, Russian composer who was a member of "The Five" also known as "The Russian Five" or "The Mighty Five". This group, which was founded in the 1860's, was composed of 5 Russian composers who wanted to establish a nationalist school of Russian music.
Type of Compositions:
Mussorgsky wrote
operas,
songs, piano pieces and melodies. He is especially known for his vivid portrayal of Russian life through his works.
Influence:
His mother taught him how to play the piano. As a child Mussorgsky also had a nurse who told him stories of Russian fairy tales, this also had a huge impact on him. He was taught by Anton Gerke who later became a professor at St. Petersburg Conservatory. Later on, Russian composer
Mily Balakirev became his teacher. Mussorgsky eventually quit the army and worked as a civil servant at the Ministry of Communications.
Notable Works:
"Podpraporshchik" (1852, his first composition), songs such as “Darling Savishna”, “Hopak” and “The Seminarist”, his symphonic poem "Ivanova noch na Lysoy gore" (1867), his famous opera "Boris Godunov" (premiered in 1874, St. Petersburg). Mussorgsky died before he could finish his opera "Khovanshchina" but it was completed by his friend and former flatmate Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov.
Interesting Fact:
Originally, Mussorgsky's father wanted him to pursue a military career. In 1849 Mussorgsky was enrolled at the Peter-Paul School and later on the Cadets of the Guard in 1852. By 1856 Mussorgsky was already a lieutenant and he joined the Preobrazhensky Guards. It was during that time when he met fellow officer, Aleksandr Borodin, who would later on become a respected composer himself. That same year he was invited to Aleksandr Dargomyzhsky's home, another Russian composer.
Other Facts:
Arseny Golenishchev-Kutuzov, a distant relative, inspired Mussorgksy to write two cycles of melodies - "Bez solntsa" and "Pesni i plyaski smerti". His "Kartinki s vystavki" (Pictures from an Exhibition) was inspired by the death of his friend Victor Hartmann. This was orchestrated by
Maurice Ravel in 1922. Although he was a brilliant composer Mussorgsky had bouts of loneliness which drove him to alcohol. This greatly affected his health, landed him in hospital and caused his eventual death.
Music Sample:
Listen to a music sample of Mussorgky's
"Pictures of An Exhibition".
