Date/Place of Birth:

21 March 1839 in Karevo, Pskov district

Personality:

A member of 'The Mighty Handful'. Mussorgsky never received any formal musical education during his childhood. After he graduated from the Cadet School of the Imperial Guards in 1856, he joined the Preobrazhensky Imperial Life Guards. Later, he resigned and was then appointed as a clerk in the civil service. However, during his army career, he indefatigably worked out his attempt in producing masterpieces despite his lack of musical knowledge. Mussorgsky's life was generally unorganized and miserable. Being an incurable alcoholic, he found his job loathsome and tedious - therefore often sank into deep depression and degradation. His health was erratic and occasionally, he sufferred from mental disorders that were sadly inimical to his concentration in composing. However, it is undubitably not a hindrance to him. Some considered that his miserable life and drinking habit might have culminated in producing a handful of masterpieces. In conclusion, Mussorgsky is now considered as one of the most single-minded Russian composers in 19th Century.

Piano-Playing Style:

Mussorgsky had already shown musical talents during his early childhood. Before he learned the basics in piano, he immersed himself at the piano improvising the music of Russian folk tunes that he hopelessly adored. His mother recognized his musical talents and began to teach him. Consequently, he improved tremendously to the extent that he mastered some of Liszt's piano pieces and performed a piano concerto by John Field in public at the age of 9. Since then, Mussorgsky had piano lessons with Anton Herke who was an outstanding pianist and a pupil of Henselt. However, Mussorgsky had no pretensions as a piano virtuoso, and he was described by Borodin as 'an elegant piano dilettante'.

Music:

Mussorgsky's music was generally nationalistic and individual. He was well acquianted with Russian folksongs and the life of peasants during his happy childhood. In 1857, he met Dargomyzhsky, a well-known composer and a friend of Glinka's, who later introduced him to several Russian composers like Cui, Balakirev, Stasov and others. He was so impressed by their nationalistic music, especially Balakirev who taught him in composition, that he devote himself entirely to Russian art. This eventually consolidated his ability to compose music in his strikingly personal style. His early works were neither characteristic of him nor nationalistic, but an emanation of Romantic expressions and lyricism. Some of his early piano works reflected his reminiscenes of his happy childhood such as 'Souvenir d'enfance', 'A Child's Scherzo', 'Nanny and Me' etc. Besides that, his 'Impromptu passionné' is one of the most exquisite pieces ever composed, with a tinge of Schumannesque texture. Ironically, he no longer composed any music in this style. Mussorgsky's 'Pictures at the Exhibition' is arguably the epitome of all programmatic piano music in 19th Century. It was inspired by the paintings of his friend Victor Hartmann. It evinces Mussorgsky's fertile imaginations and is replete with the strikingly original and somewhat exotic melodies, in such a way that shows an affinity with Russian folksongs. Meanwhile, he also composed an overtly colourful, gripping orchestral piece - 'Night on a Bare Mountain'. It is programmatic music which depicts that all ghouls and devils are called up for revelries upon the mountain. It is the operas and lieder that reveal his personality and his art of music. Unlike his early Romantic works, Mussorgsky eschewed aesthetic value in his late works, but endeavoured to reveal the life of Russians, panoramic scenery of villages, and all events occurred around him. Somehow it showed realism, as one of the trademarks found in Shostakovich's music. Therefore, Mussorgsky's operas and lieder are purely nationalistic and very characteristic of the composer himself i.e. sardonic, tender, fortright and outrageous.

Composing Habit:

During his lifetime, Mussorgsky's works were often misjudged as the least organized compositions ever produced. Some reactionary composers like Balakirev and Rimsky-Korsakov complained that his music was always lacked of cohesion and logical modulations, and its orchestration & part-writing were ineffective. It is a fact that Mussorgsky did not adhere to the principles of the traditional theory, but strived to relate his music to the Russian culture and life. He made it a rule to apply modal scale and was obsessed with rhythmic repetition and asymmetric phrasing - these characteristics show an affinity with Russian folk music. Mussorgsky loved improvising laboriously at the piano. That is how his masterpieces were composed. Unfortunately, his ability to concentrate on compositions was sapped by his heavy drinking, as mentioned above. Consequently, it is customary to find most of his works unorganized and unfinished. When all is said and done, Mussorgsky was certainly one of the most revolutionary of all Russian composers in 19th Century.

Mussorgsky's Quote:

"Thanks to nanny, I've got a deep understanding of Russian tales. This deep feeling for the soul of common people; their life became the main impulse for musical improvisation before I learned the basics in piano" Mussorgsky in his autobiography

Mussorgsky's Death:

Mussorgsky sufferred from several fits of alcoholic epilepsy in his late life. Finally, he passed away in St. Peterburg's military hospital on 28 March 1881.