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{{short description|Russian composer (1839–1881)}}
{{redirect|Mussorgsky}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
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[[File:Modest Musorgskiy, 1870.jpg|thumb|upright|{{center|Mussorgsky, {{c.|1870}}<br />
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'''Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky'''{{family name footnote|Petrovich|Mussorgsky|lang=Eastern Slavic}} ({{IPAc-en|m|ʊ|ˈ|s|ɔr|g|s|k|i|,_|-|ˈ|z|ɔr|g|-}}; {{langx|ru|Модест Петрович Мусоргский|Modest Petrovich Musorgsky}};{{efn|In his day, the name was written Модестъ Петровичъ Мусоргскій.}}{{efn|The BGN/PCGN [[Romanization of Russian|transliteration of Russian]] is used for his name here. ALA-LC system: ''Modest Petrovich Musorgskiĭ''. ISO 9: ''Modest Petrovič Musorgskij''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Russian – BGN/PCGN transliteration system |url=https://www.translitteration.com/transliteration/en/russian/bgn-pcgn/ |website=transliteration.com |access-date=2 December 2020}}</ref>}} {{IPA|ru|mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj|IPA|Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg}}; {{OldStyleDate|21 March|1839|9 March}} – {{OldStyleDate|28 March|1881|16 March}}) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "[[The Five (composers)|The Five.]]" He was an innovator of [[Music of Russia|Russian music]] in the [[Romantic music|Romantic period]] and strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music.

Many of [[List of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky|Mussorgsky's works]] were inspired by Russian history, [[Russian folklore]], and other national themes. Such works include the opera ''[[Boris Godunov (opera)|Boris Godunov]]'', the orchestral tone poem ''[[Night on Bald Mountain]]'' and the piano suite ''[[Pictures at an Exhibition]]''.

For many years, Mussorgsky's works were mainly known in versions revised or completed by other composers. Many of his most important compositions have posthumously come into their own in their original forms, and some of the original scores are now also available.

==Name==
[[File:Musorgskiy and Brother.jpg|thumb|upright|The aristocratic Mussorgsky brothers—Filaret (also known as "Yevgeniy", left), and Modest (right) in 1858]]
[[File:Modest Mussorgsky Monument Karevo.jpg|thumb|upright|Monument on the site of the Mussorgsky family house in [[Karevo, Pskov Oblast]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Heritage of Pskov Land |url=http://www.culture.pskov.ru/ru/objects/object/154 |website=culture.pskov.ru |publisher=Administration of Pskov oblast|access-date=13 August 2020|language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=M. P. Mussogrgky Museum-Estate|url=http://www.culture.pskov.ru/ru/objects/object/156 |website=culture.pskov.ru |publisher=Administration of Pskov oblast |access-date=13 August 2020|language=ru}}</ref>]]
The spelling and pronunciation of the composer's name have caused some confusion.

The family name derives from a 15th- or 16th-century ancestor, Roman Vasilyevich Monastyryov, who appears in the [[Velvet Book]], the 17th-century genealogy of Russian [[boyar]]s. Roman Vasilyevich bore the nickname "Musorga" (from {{langx|el|links=no|μουσουργός|musurgos}}, meaning "music maker"<ref>{{cite web |title=Modest Mussorgsky's business card: where did G go? |url=http://www.trud.ru/article/27-06-2020/1391411_vizitka_modesta_musorgskogo_kuda_propala_g.html |website=trud.ru |publisher=[[Trud (Russian newspaper)|Trud]] |first=Pavel|last=Lukianenko|access-date=29 September 2020 |language=ru |date=26 June 2020}}</ref>), and was the grandfather of the first Mussorgsky. The composer could trace his lineage to [[Rurik]], the legendary ninth-century prince of [[Novgorod]] and founder of the [[Russian monarchy]].<ref>Taruskin (1993: pp. xxx, 384)</ref>

In Mussorgsky family documents, the spelling of the name varies: "Musarskiy", "Muserskiy", "Muserskoy", "Musirskoy", "Musorskiy", and "Musurskiy". The baptismal record gives the composer's name as "Muserskiy".<ref>Taruskin (1993: pp. xxvii–xxviii)</ref>

In early (up to 1858) letters to [[Mily Balakirev]], the composer signed his name "Musorskiy" ({{lang|ru|Мусoрский}}).<ref>Musorgskiy (1984: pp. 10–12)</ref> The "g" made its first appearance in a letter to Balakirev in 1863.<ref>Musorgskiy (1984: p. 44)</ref> Mussorgsky used this new spelling ({{lang|ru|Мусoргскій}}, ''Musorgskiy'') to the end of his life, but occasionally reverted to the earlier "Musorskiy".<ref>Musorgskiy (1984: p. 238)</ref><ref name="Taruskin 1993: p. xxviii">Taruskin (1993: p. xxviii)</ref> The addition of the "g" to the name was likely initiated by the composer's elder brother Filaret to obscure the resemblance of the name's root to an unsavory Russian word:<ref>Taruskin (1993: p. xxx)</ref>

:''мусoр'' (músor) — ''n. m.'' debris, rubbish, refuse<ref>Smirnitsky (1985: p. 300)</ref>

Mussorgsky apparently did not take the new spelling seriously and played on the "rubbish" connection in letters to [[Vladimir Stasov]] and to Stasov's family, routinely signing his name ''Musoryanin'', roughly "garbage-dweller" (compare [[Russian nobility|''dvoryanin'']]: "nobleman").<ref name="Taruskin 1993: p. xxviii"/>

The first syllable of the name originally received the [[stress (linguistics)|stress]] (i.e., MÚS-ər-skiy), and does so to this day in Russia, including the composer's home district. The [[akanye|mutability of the second-syllable vowel]] in the versions of the name mentioned above gives evidence that this syllable did not receive the stress.<ref>Taruskin (1993: pp. xxviii, xxx)</ref>

The addition of the "g" and the accompanying shift in stress to the second syllable (i.e., Mu-SÓRK-skiy), sometimes described as a Polish variant, was supported by Filaret Mussorgsky's descendants until his line ended in the 20th century. Their example was followed by many influential Russians, such as [[Feodor Chaliapin|Fyodor Shalyapin]], [[Nikolai Golovanov|Nikolay Golovanov]], and [[Tikhon Khrennikov]], who, perhaps dismayed that the great composer's name was "reminiscent of garbage", supported the second-syllable stress that has also become entrenched in the West.<ref>Taruskin (1993: pp. xxvii–xxxi)</ref>

The Western convention of doubling the first "s", which is not observed in scholarly literature (e.g., ''[[The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]''), likely arose because in many Western European languages a single [[intervocalic consonant|intervocalic]] /s/ often becomes [[voice (phonetics)|voiced]] to /z/ (as in "music"), unlike in [[Slavic languages]] where the intervocalic /s/ is always unvoiced. Doubling the consonant thus reinforces its voiceless [[sibilant]] /s/ sound.

"Modest" is the Russian form of the name "Modestus" which means "moderate" or "restrained" in [[Late Latin]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Campbell |first1=Mike|ref=none|title=Meaning, origin and history of the name Modest |url=https://www.behindthename.com/name/modest |access-date=8 March 2019 |work=Behind the Name}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Campbell |first1=Mike|ref=none|title=Meaning, origin and history of the name Modestus |url=https://www.behindthename.com/name/modestus |website=Behind the Name |access-date=8 March 2019}}</ref> He was called "Modinka" ({{lang|ru|Модинька}}), diminutive form with the stressed O, by his close friends and relatives.<ref>{{cite web |title=Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky |url=https://meduza.io/feature/2019/10/27/muzyka-ostropolitichna-lyubaya-vsegda |website=Culture.ru |access-date=10 May 2020 |language=ru|publisher=[[Ministry of Culture (Russia)]]}}</ref>

==Life==

===Early years===
[[File:Modest-Mussorgsky-young.jpg|thumb|upright|Mussorgsky in 1856 as a cadet in the [[Preobrazhensky Regiment]] of the Imperial Guard]]
Mussorgsky was born in [[Kunyinsky District|Karevo]], Toropets Uyezd, [[Pskov Governorate]], Russian Empire, {{convert|400|km|mi|abbr=on}} south of [[Saint Petersburg]]. His wealthy and land-owning family, the noble family of [[Mussorgsky family|Mussorgsky]], is reputedly descended from [[Rurik]], through the sovereign princes of [[Smolensk]]. His mother, Julia Chirikova, was the daughter of a comparatively non-rich nobleman. Modest's paternal grandmother Irina used to be a [[Serfdom in Russia##Slaves and serfs|serf]] that could be sold without land in his grandfather's estate.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smirnova |first1=Esther |title=Русская музыкальная литература: Для VI—VII кл. ДМШ: Учебник|trans-title=Russian Music Literature: For VI-VII grades (12-13-year-old children). {{ill|Children's Music School|ru|Детская музыкальная школа}}: Textbook |date=2001 |publisher={{ill|Muzyka (publisher)|ru|Музыка (издательство)}} |location=Moscow |isbn=978-5-7140-0142-0 |page=56|url=https://dshi13.chel.muzkult.ru/media/2019/09/06/1264086495/3_god_Smirnova_Russkaya_muz._literatura.pdf |language=ru |chapter=Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky : Boris Godunov}}</ref>{{efn|Modest Mussorgsky's father Peter was eventually adopted by his biological father Alexei, Mussorgsky's grandfather, after the official marriage of Alexei and his domestic serf Irina following her emancipation (it was long time before the [[Emancipation reform of 1861]]). Irina was an unordinary woman, the best dancer-singer in the estate. Her strong character had promoted her to a 'manager of all keys' position and status of the estate owner's legitimate wife. Unfortunately, Peter's original illegitimate status (his date of birth is lost, legitimized 9 May 1820, died in 1854<ref>{{cite web |title=Mussorgsky family |url=https://62info.ru/history/node/11928 |website=62info.ru |publisher=History, culture and traditions of Ryazan Krai |access-date=14 November 2020 |language=ru}}</ref>) was considered a disgrace which had prevented him from making a successful military career according to the Mussorgsky family tradition.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mussorgsky. Childhood. Family. Places. |url=http://www.mussorgsky.ru/mus001.html |website=mussorgsky.ru |access-date=18 October 2020 |language=ru}}</ref>}} At age six, Mussorgsky began receiving piano lessons from his mother, herself a trained pianist. His progress was sufficiently rapid that three years later, he was able to perform a [[John Field (composer)|John Field]] concerto and works by [[Franz Liszt]] for family and friends. At age 10, Mussorgsky and his brother were taken to Saint Petersburg to study at the elite German language [[Petrischule]] (St. Peter's School). While there, Modest studied the piano with {{ill|Anton Gerke|ru|Герке, Антон Августович}}. In 1852, the 12-year-old Mussorgsky published a piano piece titled "Porte-enseigne Polka" at his father's expense.

Mussorgsky's parents planned the move to Saint Petersburg so that both their sons would renew the family tradition of military service.<ref>Brown (2002: p. 3).</ref> Mussorgsky entered the Cadet School of the Guards at age 13. Controversy had arisen over the educational attitudes at the time of both this institute and its director, General Sutgof.<ref name="brown4" /> All agreed the Cadet School could be a brutal place, especially for new recruits.<ref name="brown5" /> More tellingly for Mussorgsky, it was likely where he began his eventual path to alcoholism.<ref name="brown5">Brown, 5.</ref> According to a former student, singer and composer Nikolai Kompaneisky, Sutgof "was proud when a cadet returned from leave drunk with champagne."<ref>As quoted in Brown, 4</ref>

Music still remained important to Mussorgsky. Sutgof's daughter was also a pupil of Gerke, and Mussorgsky was allowed to attend lessons with her.<ref name="brown4">Brown, 4.{{incomplete short citation|date=October 2023|reason=Which year, 2002 or 2010? Probably 2002, but it ought to be notated as such. This applies to all Brown undated short citations.}}</ref> His skills as a pianist made Mussorgsky much in demand by fellow-cadets; for them, he would play dances interspersed with his own [[musical improvisation|improvisation]]s.<ref name="brown6">Brown (2002: p. 6).</ref> In 1856, Mussorgsky – who had developed a strong interest in history and studied German philosophy – graduated from the Cadet School. Following family tradition, he received a commission with the [[Preobrazhensky Regiment]], the foremost regiment of the Russian Imperial Guard.<ref name="brown6" />

=== Maturity ===
In October 1856, the 17-year-old Mussorgsky met the 22-year-old [[Alexander Borodin]] while both men served at a military hospital in Saint Petersburg. The two were soon on good terms.<ref>Brown (2002: p. 8).</ref> Borodin later remembered:

{{quote|His little uniform was spic and span, close-fitting, his feet turned outwards, his hair smoothed down and greased, his nails perfectly cut, his hands well groomed like a lord's. His manners were elegant, aristocratic: his speech likewise, delivered through somewhat clenched teeth, interspersed with French phrases, was rather precious. There was a touch—though very moderate—of [[fop]]pishness. His politeness and good manners were exceptional. The ladies made a fuss of him. He sat at the piano and, throwing up his hands coquettishly, played with extreme sweetness and grace (etc) extracts from ''[[Il trovatore|Trovatore]]'', ''[[La traviata|Traviata]]'', and so on, and around him buzzed in chorus: "Charmant, délicieux!" and suchlike. I met Modest Petrovich three or four times at Popov's in this way, both on duty and at the hospital."<ref>Gordeyva (1989: pp. 86–87).</ref>}}

[[File:Alexander Dargomyzhsky.jpg|thumb|upright|Alexander Dargomyzhsky]]
More portentous was Mussorgsky's introduction that winter to [[Alexander Dargomyzhsky]], at that time the most important Russian composer after [[Mikhail Glinka]]. Dargomyzhsky was impressed with Mussorgsky's pianism. As a result, Mussorgsky became a fixture at Dargomyzhsky's soirées. There, as critic [[Vladimir Stasov]] later recalled, he began "his true musical life."<ref>Brown, 10.</ref>

Over the next two years at Dargomyzhsky's, Mussorgsky met several figures of importance in Russia's cultural life, among them Stasov, [[César Cui]] (a fellow officer), and [[Mily Balakirev]]. Balakirev had an especially strong impact. Within days he took it upon himself to help shape Mussorgsky's fate as a composer. He recalled to Stasov, "Because I am not a theorist, I could not teach him harmony (as, for instance [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov|Rimsky-Korsakov]] now teaches it) ... [but] I explained to him the form of compositions, and to do this we played through both [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] symphonies [as piano duets] and much else ([[Robert Schumann|Schumann]], [[Franz Schubert|Schubert]], [[Mikhail Glinka|Glinka]], and others), analyzing the form."<ref>Brown, 12–13.</ref> Up to this point, Mussorgsky had known nothing but piano music; his knowledge of more radical recent music was virtually non-existent. Balakirev started filling these gaps in Mussorgsky's knowledge.<ref>Brown, 12.</ref>

In 1858, within a few months of beginning his studies with Balakirev, Mussorgsky resigned his commission to devote himself entirely to music.<ref>Brown, 14.</ref> He also suffered a painful crisis at this time. This may have had a spiritual component (in a letter to Balakirev the young man referred to "mysticism and cynical thoughts about the Deity"), but its exact nature will probably never be known. In 1859, the 20-year-old gained valuable theatrical experience by assisting in a production of Glinka's opera ''[[A Life for the Tsar]]'' on the Glebovo estate of a former singer and her wealthy husband; Mussorgsky also met {{ill|Konstantin Lyadov|fr|Constantin Liadov|ru|Лядов, Константин Николаевич}} (father of [[Anatoly Lyadov]]) and enjoyed a formative visit to Moscow – after which he professed love of "everything Russian". Mussorgsky and his brother were also inspired by the [[Blackletter|gothic script]], they were using an "M" personal sign instead of [[:File:Coat of Arms of Aladin.jpg|family coat of arms]], very similar to [[Symbols of the Rurikids|the symbols of the early Rurikids]].<ref>{{cite web |title=His Sign |url=https://mus.academy/storage/magazine/articles/pdfs/compressed/FtyvjP6NYDWGsSQou50MVUnjfECueD8GugButhID.pdf |website=mus.academy |publisher=[[Music Academy (journal)|Music Academy]] |access-date=13 September 2020|language=ru}}</ref>

[[File:Gustave Flaubert.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Gustave Flaubert. Mussorgsky started an opera based on his ''Salammbô'' but did not finish it.]]
Despite this epiphany, Mussorgsky's music leaned more toward foreign models; a four-hand piano sonata that he produced in 1860 contains his only movement in [[sonata form]]. Nor is any 'nationalistic' impulse easily discernible in the incidental music for [[Vladislav Ozerov]]'s play ''Oedipus in Athens'', on which he worked between the ages of 19 and 22 (and then abandoned unfinished), or in the ''Intermezzo in Modo Classico'' for piano solo (revised and orchestrated in 1867). The latter was the only important piece he composed between December 1860 and August 1863: the reasons for this probably lie in the painful re-emergence of his subjective crisis in 1860 and the purely objective difficulties which resulted from the [[Emancipation reform of 1861|emancipation of the serfs]] the following year – as a result of which the family was deprived of half its estate, and Mussorgsky had to spend a good deal of time in Karevo unsuccessfully attempting to stave off their looming impoverishment.

By this time, Mussorgsky had freed himself from the influence of Balakirev and was largely teaching himself. In 1863 he began an opera – ''[[Salammbô (Mussorgsky)|Salammbô]]'' – on which he worked between 1863 and 1866 before losing interest in the project. During this period, he returned to Saint Petersburg and supported himself as a low-grade civil servant while living in a six-man "commune". In a heady artistic and intellectual atmosphere, he read and discussed a wide range of modern artistic and scientific ideas – including those of the provocative writer [[Nikolay Chernyshevsky|Chernyshevsky]], known for the bold assertion that, in art, "form and content are opposites". Under such influences he came more and more to embrace the idea of artistic realism and all that it entailed, whether this concerned the responsibility to depict life "as it is truly lived"; the preoccupation with the lower strata of society; or the rejection of repeating, symmetrical musical forms as insufficiently true to the unrepeating, unpredictable course of "real life".

{{Listen|type=music|filename=Modest Mussorgsky - night on bald mountain.ogg|title=Night on Bald Mountain|description=Rimsky-Korsakov's edited version of the piece, performed by the Skidmore College Orchestra}}
"Real life" affected Mussorgsky painfully in 1865 when his mother died; at this point, the composer had his first serious bout of alcoholism, which forced him to leave the commune to stay with his brother. However, the 26-year-old was on the point of writing his first realistic songs (including "Hopak" and "Darling Savishna", both of them composed in 1866 and among his first "real" publications the following year). The year 1867 was also the one in which he finished the original orchestral version of his ''[[Night on Bald Mountain]]'' (which, Balakirev criticised and refused to conduct,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Emerson|first1=Caryl|title=The Life of Musorgsky|url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofmusorgsky00emer_mzm|url-access=registration|year=1999|publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press|location=Cambridge [u.a.]|isbn=978-0-521-48507-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/lifeofmusorgsky00emer_mzm/page/34 34]|edition=1. publ.}}</ref> with the result that it was never performed during Mussorgsky's lifetime<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kramer|first1=Jonathan D.|title=Listening to Music : The Essential Guide to the Classical Repertoire|year=1991|publisher=Random House UK Ltd (A Division of Random House Group)|location=London, United Kingdom|isbn=978-0-413-45331-0|page=484}}</ref>).

===Peak===
[[File:Modest Musorgskiy 1876 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Mussorgsky in 1876]]
Mussorgsky's career as a civil servant was by no means stable or secure: though he was assigned to various posts and even received a promotion in these early years, Mussorgsky was declared "supernumerary" in 1867 – remaining "in service" but receiving no wages. However, decisive developments were occurring in his artistic life. Although it was in 1867 that Stasov first referred to the "[[The Five (composers)|kuchka]]" ({{langx|ru|кучка|link=no}}, lit. ''bunch'', English: "The Five") of Russian composers loosely grouped around Balakirev, Mussorgsky was by then ceasing to seek Balakirev's approval and was moving closer to the older [[Alexander Dargomyzhsky]]. Inside ''The Five'' and its close companions, Mussorgsky was nicknamed as "Humour", Balakirev was "Power", and Rimsky-Korsakov was "Sincerity".<ref>{{cite web |title=Искренность и золотая рыбка |trans-title=Sincerity and Golden Fish |url=http://mopargolovo.ru:80/15/корррр.Pargolovo_04_2019_compressed.pdf |website=mopargolovo.ru |publisher=Pargolovo Official Site |access-date=4 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190819164741/http://mopargolovo.ru/15/%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%80%D1%80%D1%80%D1%80.Pargolovo_04_2019_compressed.pdf |archive-date=19 August 2019 |page=8 |language=ru |date=29 April 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Since 1866, Dargomyzhsky had been working on his opera ''[[The Stone Guest (Dargomyzhsky)|The Stone Guest]]'', a version of the ''[[Don Juan]]'' story with a [[Alexander Pushkin|Pushkin]] text that he declared would be set "just as it stands, so that the inner truth of the text should not be distorted", and in a manner that abolished the "unrealistic" division between [[aria]] and [[recitative]] in favor of a continuous mode of syllabic but lyrically heightened declamation somewhere between the two.

[[File:Komissarzhevsky as Pretender.jpg|thumb|upright|Fyodor Komissarzhevsky as The Pretender in ''Boris Godunov'']]
Under the influence of this work (and the ideas of [[Georg Gottfried Gervinus]], according to whom "the highest natural object of musical imitation is emotion, and the method of imitating emotion is to mimic speech"), Mussorgsky in 1868 rapidly set the first eleven scenes of [[Nikolai Gogol]]'s play ''[[Marriage (play)|Marriage]]'' (''[[Zhenitba]]''), with his priority being to render into music the natural accents and patterns of the play's naturalistic and deliberately humdrum dialogue. This work marked an extreme position in Mussorgsky's pursuit of naturalistic word-setting: he abandoned it unorchestrated after reaching the end of his "Act 1", and though its characteristically "Mussorgskyian" declamation is to be heard in all his later vocal music, the naturalistic mode of vocal writing more and more became merely one expressive element among many.

A few months after abandoning ''Zhenitba'', the 29-year-old Mussorgsky was encouraged to write an opera on the story of [[Boris Godunov]]. This he did, assembling and shaping a text from Pushkin's play and [[Nikolay Karamzin|Karamzin]]'s history. Mussorgsky completed the large-scale score the following year while living with friends and working for the Forestry Department. However, the finished opera was rejected for theatrical performance in 1871, apparently because of its lack of any "[[prima donna]]" role. Mussorgsky set to work producing a revised and enlarged "second version". During the next year, which he spent sharing rooms with Rimsky-Korsakov, he made changes that went beyond those requested by the theatre. In this version the opera was accepted, probably in May 1872, and three excerpts were staged at the [[Mariinsky Theatre]] in 1873. It is often asserted that in 1872 the opera was rejected a second time, but no specific evidence for this exists.

By the time of the first production of ''[[Boris Godunov (opera)|Boris Godunov]]'' in February 1874, Mussorgsky had taken part in the ill-fated ''[[Mlada]]'' project (in the course of which he had made a choral version of his ''[[Night on Bald Mountain]]'') and had begun ''[[Khovanshchina]]''. Though far from being a critical success – and in spite of receiving only a dozen or so performances – the popular reaction in favour of ''Boris'' made this the peak of Mussorgsky's career.

===Decline===
From this peak, a pattern of decline became increasingly apparent. At this point, the Balakirev circle was disintegrating, something Mussorgsky was especially bitter about. He wrote to [[Vladimir Stasov]], "[T]he Mighty Handful has degenerated into soulless traitors."<ref>Letter to Vladimir Stasov, 9 October 1875. As quoted in Rimsky-Korsakov (1923: pp. 154–155, footnote 24).</ref> In drifting away from his old friends, Mussorgsky had been seen to fall victim to "fits of madness" that could well have been alcoholism-related. His friend [[Viktor Hartmann]] had died, and Mussorgsky's relative and recent roommate [[Arseny Golenishchev-Kutuzov]] (who furnished the poems for the song-cycle ''[[Sunless (song cycle)|Sunless]]'' and would go on to provide those for the ''[[Songs and Dances of Death]]'') had moved away to get married. Mussorgsky engaged a new and prominent personal private physician about 1870, Dr. George Leon Carrick, sometime Secretary and later President of the St. Petersburg Physicians' Society<ref>Ashby, F., "The Carricks of St.Petersburg" in ''The Caledonian Phalanx – Scots in Russia'', Edinburgh, 1987, p. 96.</ref> and a cousin of [[Sir Harry Lauder]].<ref>"The Ancestry of Sir Harry Lauder" by Gregory Lauder-Frost, F.S.A. Scot., in ''The Scottish Genealogist''. vol. LIII, No. 2, June 2006, {{ISSN|0300-337X}}, pp. 74–87, where Dr.Carrick's mother is given as the sister of Harry Lauder's grandfather, John Lauder.</ref>

[[File:Modest Músorgski, por Iliá Repin.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Ilya Repin]]'s celebrated portrait of Mussorgsky, painted 2–5 March 1881, only a few days before the composer's death]]
While Mussorgsky suffered personally from alcoholism, it was also a behavior pattern considered typical for those of Mussorgsky's generation who wanted to oppose the establishment and protest through extreme forms of behavior.<ref name=Volkov87>{{harvp|Volkov|1995|p=87}}</ref> One contemporary noted, "an intense worship of [[Bacchus]] was considered to be almost obligatory for a writer of that period. It was a showing off, a 'pose,' for the best people of the [eighteen-]sixties." Another writes, "Talented people in Russia who love the simple folk cannot but drink."<ref>Quoted in ''Sovietskaia muzyka'' (''Soviet Music'') 9 (1980), 104. As quoted in {{harvp|Volkov|1995|p=87}}.</ref> Mussorgsky spent day and night in a Saint Petersburg tavern of low repute, the Maly Yaroslavets, accompanied by other bohemian dropouts. He and his fellow drinkers idealized their alcoholism, perhaps seeing it as ethical and aesthetic opposition.<ref name=Volkov87 />

{{Listen|type=music|header=''Pictures at an Exhibition''
|filename=Modest Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition, movement 1.ogg|title=Part 1
|filename2=Modest Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition, movement 2.ogg|title2=Part 2
|filename3=Modest Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition, movement 3.ogg|title3=Part 3|description3=Arrangement for two pianos}}
For a time, Mussorgsky was able to maintain his creative output: his compositions from 1874 include ''Sunless'', the ''Khovanshchina'' Prelude, and the piano suite ''[[Pictures at an Exhibition]]'' (in memory of Hartmann); Mussorgsky also began working on another opera based on Gogol, ''[[The Fair at Sorochyntsi]]'' (for which he produced another choral version of ''Night on Bald Mountain'').

In the years that followed, Mussorgsky's decline became increasingly steep. Although now part of a new circle of eminent personages that included singers, medical men, and actors, he was increasingly unable to resist drinking, and a succession of deaths among his closest associates caused him great pain. However, Mussorgsky's alcoholism would seem to be in check at times, and among the most powerful works composed during his last six years are the four ''Songs and Dances of Death''. Mussorgsky's civil service career was made more precarious by his frequent "illnesses" and absences, and Mussorgsky was fortunate to obtain a transfer to a post (in the Office of Government Control), where his music-loving superior treated him with great leniency – even allowing Mussorgsky to spend three months touring 12 cities as a singer's accompanist in 1879.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

However, the decline could not be halted. In 1880, Mussorgsky was finally dismissed from government service. Aware of his destitution, one group of friends organized a stipend designed to support the completion of ''Khovanshchina'' while another group organized a similar fund to pay him to complete ''The Fair at Sorochyntsi'', but neither work was completed (although ''Khovanshchina'', in piano score with only two numbers uncomposed, came close to being finished).

[[File:Musorgsky Grave.jpg|thumb|upright|Mussorgsky's grave at [[Tikhvin Cemetery]] of the [[Alexander Nevsky Lavra|Alexander Nevsky Monastery]] in Saint Petersburg]]
In early 1881, a desperate Mussorgsky declared to a friend that there was "nothing left but begging" and suffered four [[seizure]]s in rapid succession. Mussorgsky also suffered from [[delirium tremens]] during this period.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mfiles.co.uk/composers/Modest-Mussorgsky.htm|title=Modest Mussorgsky – an overview of the classical composer, his life and music|website=www.mfiles.co.uk}}</ref> Although he found a comfortable room in a good hospital{{Mdash}}and for several weeks even appeared to be rallying{{Mdash}}the situation was hopeless. In March 1881, [[Ilya Repin]] painted the famous, red-nosed portrait in what were to be the last days of the composer's life as Mussorgsky died a week after his 42nd birthday. Mussorgsky was interred at the [[Tikhvin Cemetery]] of the [[Alexander Nevsky Lavra|Alexander Nevsky Monastery]] in [[Saint Petersburg]].<ref>Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 34064–34065). McFarland & Company. Kindle Edition.</ref>

Mussorgsky, like others of "The Five", was perceived as an extremist by the emperor and much of his court.{{efn|Under [the rule of] Alexander II the dominance of the [[Baltic Germans]] remained. [[Mikhail Katkov]]'s employee, the Latvian Krisjanis Valdemar, in the article "Who rules Russia: the Russians themselves or the Germans?" collected the statistics: "Among ministers – 15% are Germans, among members of the State Council – 25%, among senators – 40%, generals – 50%, governors – 60%. And since the governors run Russia, this will be the answer to the question posed. Since all the Empresses [consorts] are German, it is natural that under their protection the Germans infiltrate into the higher administration. Katkov, having read the article with amazement, did not believe in the numbers. And he told the secretary to check it. The results of the check were even more striking: there were not 40 but 63% of German senators! But Katkov published Valdemar's article, replacing only the words about Empresses with 'high officials'".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Polyakov |first1=Vladimir |title=The tragedy of oblivion |url=https://xn--h1aagokeh.xn--p1ai/journal/%D1%82%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B3%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%8F-%D0%B7%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%B2%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%8F/ |website=историк.рф |publisher={{ill|Historian (Russian journal)|ru|Историк (журнал)}} |access-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425013532/https://%d0%b8%d1%81%d1%82%d0%be%d1%80%d0%b8%d0%ba.%d1%80%d1%84/journal/%d1%82%d1%80%d0%b0%d0%b3%d0%b5%d0%b4%d0%b8%d1%8f-%d0%b7%d0%b0%d0%b1%d0%b2%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%b8%d1%8f/ |archive-date=25 April 2019 |language=ru |url-status=live }}</ref>}} This may have been the reason [[Tsar]] [[Alexander III of Russia|Alexander III]] personally crossed off ''Boris Godunov'' from the list of proposed pieces for the Imperial Opera in 1888.{{sfnp|Volkov|1995|pp=106–107}}

==Works==
{{main|List of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky}}
{{Listen|type=music|pos=right|filename=Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky - Il Vecchio Castello - Saxophone and Piano - David Hernando Vitores.ogg|title="The Old Castle" from ''Pictures at an Exhibition''|description=Performed on piano and saxophone by David Hernando}}
Mussorgsky's works, while strikingly novel, are stylistically [[Romantic music|Romantic]] and draw heavily on Russian musical themes. He has been the inspiration for many Russian composers, including most notably [[Dmitri Shostakovich]] (in his late symphonies) and [[Sergei Prokofiev]] (in his operas).

In 1868 or 1869, Mussorgsky composed the opera ''[[Boris Godunov (opera)|Boris Godunov]]'', about the life of the Russian [[tsar]], but it was rejected by the [[Mariinsky Theatre|Mariinsky Opera]]. Mussorgsky thus edited the work, making a final version in 1874. The early version is considered darker and more concise than the later version, but also more crude. [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]] re-orchestrated the opera in 1896 and revised it in 1908. The opera has also been revised by other composers, notably Shostakovich, who made two versions, one for film and one for stage.

The opera ''[[Khovanshchina]]'' was unfinished and unperformed when Mussorgsky died, but it was completed by Rimsky-Korsakov and received its premiere in 1886 in [[Saint Petersburg]]. This opera was also revised by Shostakovich. ''[[The Fair at Sorochyntsi]]'', another opera, was left incomplete at his death but a dance excerpt, the [[Gopak]], is frequently performed.

Mussorgsky's most imaginative and frequently performed work is the cycle of piano pieces describing paintings in sound called ''[[Pictures at an Exhibition]]''. This composition, best known through an orchestral arrangement by [[Maurice Ravel]], was written in commemoration of his friend, the architect [[Viktor Hartmann]].

Mussorgsky's single-movement orchestral work ''[[Night on Bald Mountain]]'' enjoyed broad popular recognition in the 1940s when it was featured, in tandem with [[Franz Schubert|Schubert]]'s "[[Ellens dritter Gesang|Ave Maria]]", in the 1940 [[Walt Disney Pictures|Walt Disney]] animated film ''[[Fantasia (1940 film)|Fantasia]]''.

Among the composer's other works are a number of songs, including three [[song cycle]]s: ''[[The Nursery]]'' (1872), ''[[Sunless (song cycle)|Sunless]]'' (1874) and ''[[Songs and Dances of Death]]'' (1877); plus ''[[Song of the Flea|Mephistopheles' Song of the Flea]]'' and many others. Important early recordings of songs by Mussorgsky were made by tenor [[Vladimir Rosing]] in the 1920s and 1930s.<ref>Juynboll (1991: pp. 194–196).</ref> Other recordings have been made by [[Boris Christoff]] between 1951 and 1957 and by [[Sergei Leiferkus]] in 1993.<ref>Kozinn (2004: pp. 143–147).</ref>

==Reputation==
Contemporary opinions of Mussorgsky as a composer and person varied from positive to ambiguous to negative. Mussorgsky's eventual supporters, [[Vladimir Stasov]] and [[Mily Balakirev]], initially registered strongly negative impressions of the composer. Stasov wrote to Balakirev, in an 1863 letter, "I have no use for Mussorgsky. His views may tally with mine, but I have never heard him express an intelligent idea. All in him is flabby, dull. He is, it seems to me, a thorough idiot", and Balakirev agreed: "Yes, Mussorgsky is little short of an idiot."<ref name=Calvocoressi>Calvocoressi (1934: p. 6).</ref>

Mixed impressions are recorded by [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov|Rimsky-Korsakov]] and [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]], colleagues of Mussorgsky who, unlike him, made their living as composers. Both praised his talent while expressing disappointment with his technique. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote that Mussorgsky's scores included:

{{quote|absurd, disconnected harmony, ugly [[part-writing]], sometimes strikingly illogical [[Modulation (music)|modulation]], sometimes a depressing lack of it, unsuccessful [[Orchestration|scoring]] of orchestral things... what was needed at the moment was an edition for performance, for practical artistic aims, for familiarization with his enormous talent, not for the study of his personality and artistic transgressions.<ref>Brown and Abraham (1997: p. 125).</ref>}}
While preparing an edition of ''[[The Fair at Sorochyntsi|Sorochintsï Fair]]'', [[Anatoly Lyadov]] remarked: "It is easy enough to correct Mussorgsky's irregularities. The only trouble is that when this is done, the character and originality of the music are done away with, and the composer's individuality vanishes."<ref>Calvocoressi (1956: p. 219)</ref>

Tchaikovsky, in a letter to his patroness [[Nadezhda von Meck]], was also critical of Mussorgsky:

{{quote|Mussorgsky you very rightly call a hopeless case. In talent he is perhaps superior to all the [other members of [[The Five (composers)|The Five]]], but his nature is narrow-minded, devoid of any urge towards self-perfection, blindly believing in the ridiculous theories of his circle and in his own genius. In addition, he has a certain base side to his nature which likes coarseness, uncouthness, roughness. He flaunts his illiteracy, takes pride in his ignorance, mucks along anyhow, blindly believing in the infallibility of his genius. Yet he has flashes of talent which are, moreover, not devoid of originality.<ref>Brown (2010: p. 212).</ref>}}
Western perceptions of Mussorgsky changed with the European premiere of ''[[Boris Godunov (opera)|Boris Godunov]]'' in 1908. Before the premiere, he was regarded as an eccentric in the West. Critic [[Edward Dannreuther]], wrote, in the 1905 edition of ''The Oxford History of Music'', "Mussorgsky, in his vocal efforts, appears wilfully eccentric. His style impresses the Western ear as barbarously ugly."<ref>Calvocoressi (1956: p. 224)</ref> However, after the premiere, views on Mussorgsky's music changed drastically. [[Gerald Abraham]], a musicologist, and an authority on Mussorgsky: "As a musical translator of words and all that can be expressed in words, of psychological states, and even physical movement, he is unsurpassed; as an absolute musician he was hopelessly limited, with remarkably little ability to construct pure music or even a purely musical texture."<ref>{{Cite book|title=[[Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]|volume=5: L–M|edition=5th, reprint|year=1966|chapter=Mussorgsky, Modest Petrovich|author=G[erald] A[braham]|author-link=Gerald Abraham|page=1038 (1030–1041)|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/grovesdictionary05grov/page/1030/mode/2up|access-date=3 July 2025|chapter-url-access=registration|via=[[Internet Archive]]|publisher=St. Martin's Press|location=New York|orig-year=1954|editor-first=Eric|editor-last=Blom|editor-link=Eric Blom}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
Mussorgsky's tone poem ''[[Night on Bald Mountain]]'' was used in the 1940 animated film ''[[Fantasia (1940 film)|Fantasia]]'', accompanied by an animation of [[Chernobog]] summoning evil spirits on a mountain. It segues into ''[[Ave Maria]]'' by [[Franz Schubert]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.classicalmpr.org/story/2015/11/13/fantasia-bald-mountain-ave-maria|title=From 'Bald Mountain' to 'Ave Maria': The hell-to-heaven 'Fantasia' climax|first=Jay|last=Gabler|website=www.classicalmpr.org|date=13 November 2015 }}</ref>

The [[progressive rock]] band [[Emerson, Lake & Palmer]] performed and recorded an arrangement of Mussorgsky's ''[[Pictures at an Exhibition]]'' in 1971, featuring lyrics by [[Greg Lake]], and released it as [[Pictures at an Exhibition (Emerson, Lake & Palmer album)|a live album of the same name]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.popmatters.com/emerson-lake-and-palmer-pictures-at-an-exhibition-2496215209.html |title=Emerson Lake and Palmer: Pictures at an Exhibition |date=11 September 2007 |website=PopMatters}}</ref>

The first 20 seconds of [[Michael Jackson]]'s 1995 song "[[HIStory (song)|HIStory]]" relies on an orchestrated version of "The Bogatyr Gates (In the Capital in Kiev)" fragment of ''[[Pictures at an Exhibition#10. The Bogatyr Gates (In the Capital in Kiev)|The Pictures at an Exhibition]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Vogel |first1=Joseph |title=Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson |date=2011 |publisher=[[Sterling Publishing|Sterling]] |isbn=978-1-4027-7938-1 |pages=223–224 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x72quAAACAAJ |access-date=23 October 2020}}</ref>

The 2020 film ''[[Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga]]'' starring [[Dan Stevens]] as Alexander Lemtov, a flamboyant singer representing Russia, had a [[Anti-Russian sentiment#Hollywood and video games|non-typical Russian character]] development as an obvious cultural reference to Modest Mussorgsky, also known domestically for encouraging a female opera singer {{ill|Daria Leonova|ru|Леонова, Дарья Михайловна}} to compose a classical song "Letter After the Ball".<ref>{{cite web |title=Leonova or Mussorgsky? Authorship of the Romance Song "Letter After the Ball" as a Source of Study, Historical and Cultural Problem |url=https://www.academia.edu/42306626 |website=academia.edu |publisher={{ill|State Institute of Art Studies|ru|Государственный институт искусствознания}} |access-date=14 September 2020 |date=2018|language=ru}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist|45em}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
'''Sources'''
* Brown, David. ''Mussorgsky: His Life and Works''. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-19-816587-3}}.
* Brown, David. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=q9Ft9P8SvvsC&pg=PT212 Tchaikovsky: The Man and His Music]''. London and Boston: Faber & Faber, 2010. {{ISBN|978-0-571-26093-5}} (accessed 29 June 2015).
* Brown, David, and Gerald E. Abraham. ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=oy2vC29YKo8C&pg=PA125 Russian Masters 1: Glinka, Borodin, Balakirev, Musorgsky, Tchaikovsky]''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1997. {{ISBN|978-0-393-31585-1}}.
* [[Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi|Calvocoressi, M. D.]], ''Modest Mussorgsky: His Life and Works'', London: Rockliff, 1956
* Calvocoressi, M.D. "Mussorgsky's Youth: In the Light of the Latest Information". ''[[The Musical Quarterly]]'' 20, no. 1 (January 1934): 1–14. {{JSTOR|738707}} {{issn|0027-4631}} (accessed 29 June 2015).{{Subscription required}}<!--San Francisco Public Library card necessary for access.-->
* Juynboll, Floris. "Vladimir Rosing". ''The Record Collector'' 36, no. 3 (July, August, September 1991). pp.&nbsp;194–196.
* [[Allan Kozinn|Kozinn, Allan]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=mFus1TXXGX4C&pg=RA1-PA143 ''The New York Times Essential Library: Classical Music: A Critic's Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings'']. New York: Times Books, 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-8050-7070-5}}.
* Musorgskiy, M., ''M. P. Musorgskiy: Letters'', Gordeyeva, Ye. (editor), 2nd edition, Moscow: Music (publisher), 1984 [Мусоргский, М.П., ''М.П. Мусоргский: Письма'', Гордеева, Е., Москва: Музыка, 1984]
* Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolay. ''My Musical Life'', edited by Nadezhda Nikolaevna Rimskaia-Korsakova, translated from the second Russian edition by [[Judah Joffe|Judah A. Joffe]] and edited with an introduction by [[Carl Van Vechten]]. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1923.
* Smirnitsky, A., ''Russian-English Dictionary'', Moscow: The Russian Language (publisher), 1985 [Смирницкий, А.И., ''Русско-английский словарь'', Москва: Русский язык, 1985].
* [[Richard Taruskin|Taruskin, R.]], ''Musorgsky: Eight Essays and an Epilogue'', New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1993.
* {{cite book|last=Volkov|first=Solomon|author-link=Solomon Volkov|translator=Antonina W. Bouis|translator-link=Antonina Bouis|title=Saint Petersburg: A Cultural History|location=New York|publisher=The Free Press|year=1995|isbn=978-0684-83296-8}}

==Further reading==
* Gordeyeva, E. (ed.). ''M.P. Musorgsky v vospominaniyakh sovremennikov'' [Mussorgsky in the recollections of contemporaries] Moscow: s.n., 1989.

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category}}
*{{IMSLP|id=Mussorgsky,_Modest_Petrovich|cname=Mussorgsky}}
*{{MutopiaComposer|MussorgskyM}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110308212934/http://turgenevmusica.info/en/musorgsky.html Turgenev and Mussorgsky] <small>(with music samples)</small>

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