Mussorgsky
Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881) was a Russian composer whose raw, innovative style in works like Pictures at an Exhibition and Boris Godunov profoundly influenced modern music.
In Depth
Mussorgsky was the most radical of the "Mighty Handful," the group of five Russian nationalist composers. His opera Boris Godunov broke with Western operatic conventions through its use of Russian speech rhythms, crowd scenes as dramatic protagonists, and psychological realism. Pictures at an Exhibition, originally for solo piano, became even more famous in Ravel's orchestration.
His innovative approach to harmony, rhythm, and orchestral color influenced Debussy, Ravel, and Janáček. Night on Bald Mountain evokes Russian supernatural folklore with unprecedented orchestral ferocity. Tragically, alcoholism cut short his career — he died at 42. Many of his works survive only in completions and orchestrations by Rimsky-Korsakov, whose well-meaning revisions often smoothed away Mussorgsky's most daring touches.
Ravel's famous orchestration of Pictures at an Exhibition is so ubiquitous that most listeners have never heard Mussorgsky's original, much rawer piano version.