Modest Mussorgsky - Songwriters, Family and Life

Early life  

Born in a noble landowner family, Modest Mussorgsky learned his first lessons in piano from his mother. When he turned nine, Mussorgsky already started performing John Field concerto and also works by Franz Liszt for family and friends. The very next year, he was enrolled to the elite Peterschule or St. Peter's School. The musical prodigy then went ahead to publish a piano piece called ‘Porte-enseigne Polka’, which was funded by his father. The family tradition of military service was carried on by Mussorgsky, as he joined the Cadet School of the Guards at age of 13. There he continued to take piano lessons with the General’s daughter. He graduated from the school in 1856 receiving commission with the Preobrazhensky Regiment. While in service, he developed friendship with Alexander Borodin and Alexander Dargomyzhsky, the famous Russian composers who had profound impact on his musical career. During this time, at Dargomyzhsky's soirées, Mussorgsky also made acquaintance with Mily Balakirev, under whom he learned advanced music lessons.

Musical Career

Mussorgsky decided to dedicate his life to music and resigned his commission in 1858. The next year he joined Mikhail Glinka’s opera ‘A Life for the Tsar’ on the Glebovo estate. He produced a four-hand piano sonata in 1860 which is his only movement in sonata form. He then composed Intermezzo in modo classico for piano solo which took three years to complete. By this time, he had finished his studies with Balakirev and started to self-tutor himself in piano. In the same year, he began to work on an opera called ‘Salammbô’ for which he spent three years of his life. But, his musical career came to a standstill after his mother died in 1865. This led him into alcoholism or dipsomania. In 1867, he finished the original orchestral version of his ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ which is his most famous composition. In 1868, Mussorgsky worked to arrange the first eleven scenes of Nikolai Gogol's ‘The Marriage’. During 1868-1869, he composed an opera depicting the life of the Tsars which was rejected by Mariinsky Opera. Later, he made a few changes to the opera and the new version was accepted in May, 1872. But his alcoholism made him drift away from his circle of friends.

Last days

His alcoholism worsened his situation in later phases of his life. His later year’s compositions include Sunless, the Khovanschina Prelude, and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition, and an opera based on Gogol, The Fair at Sorochyntsi. In 1881 he suffered four seizures. Though, his physical condition improved for some weeks, but, he soon relapsed and passed away on March 28, 1881, a week after his 42nd birthday. He was interred at the Tikhvin Cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in Saint Petersburg.

Important compositions

Most of his compositions were romantic in style and drew inspiration from Russian history and folklore. His symphonies bear influence of artists like Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev. Here is a list of some of his famous works.

• Souvenir of Childhood, 1857
• Intermezzo in the Classic Style, 1860
• St. John's Night on the Bare Mountain, 1867
• Boris Godunov, 1868
• Khovanshchina, 1872
• Pictures from an Exhibition, 1874
• Transcaucasian Suite, 1880
• Three Vocalises, 1880
• Five Russian Folksongs, 1880