March 16, 2015.Bach and Mussorgsky.Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21st of 1685 in Eisenach.We’ve writtenabout him so many times (last year, for example) that this time we’ll just go ahead with his music and write a bit about some other composers that were also born this week but are often overshadowed by the German master.So here’s Part II of The St. John Passion.Bach wrote it during his first years in Leipzig, where, in 1723, he was appointed the Thomaskantor.It was first performed on April 7th of the following year, during the Good Friday Vespers, at the St. Nicholas Church.In this recording theperformers are: Concentus Musicus Wien, the Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting.
Modest Mussorgsky, a composer of tremendous but only partly fulfilled talent, was born on March 21st of 1839.Mussorgsky was born in the village of Karevo in the Northwestern Pskov region of Russia.He belonged to an old, noble and quite wealthy family.He started piano lessons with his mother at the age of six.When he was ten, he and his brother were sent to St.-Petersburg to study at a German-language school where he was able to continue his piano lessons.At the age of 12 he published (with his father’s help) his first composition.A year later he entered the Cadet School in order to continue the family’s military tradition.The discipline at the school was lax, carousing encouraged, and that’s, apparently, where his drinking problems began.Upon graduating, he joined the elite Preobrazhensky regiment.He soon met Alexander Borodin, then a young military doctor and a budding composer, and Alexander Dargomyzhsky, who is practically forgotten outside of Russia but back then was considered the most important composer since Mikhail Glinka.Dargomyzhsky introduced Mussorgsky to Balakirev and Cui, the future members of the “Mighty Five.”Soon after Mussorgsky quit the military and devoted himself to music fulltime.The several following years were not very productive: he wrote some piano music, an incidental music to a play; he started working on Salammbô, an opera after Flaubert’s novel, but never finished it.In 1865, at the age of 26, he had his first real bout with alcoholism, but got out of it intact.One year later he finished the tone poem Night on Bald Mountain (Balakirev didn’t like it and it was never performed during Mussorgsky’s lifetime).He started working on an opera based on a story by Gogol, The Marriage, but soon abandoned that as well.Then, in 1868, an acquaintance, one Professor Nikolsky, an authority on Pushkin, suggested that Mussorgsky writes an opera based on Boris Godunov, Pushkin’s blank-verse play.Mussorgsky responded with great enthusiasm: he wrote a libretto based on Pushkin’s play and available historical documents and completed the first version of what turned out to be a large opera in less than a year.The opera, though, was rejected by major theaters, mostly because it lacked a leading female role.Undeterred, Mussorgsky went on to create a revised and expanded version.This version was accepted, and in 1872 parts of it were staged at the famed Mariinsky Theater in 1873.A year later the complete opera was staged at the same theater.Even though the public seemed to have liked it, it was poorly received by the critics and closed after just several performances.Some years later it was taken out of the repertory completely.In the meantime, Mussorgsy started working on Khovanshchina, a second large-scale opera project.The opera, which, as so many of his projects, was never completed, was also based on an episode from Russian history, a rebellion of the Old Believers and the Streltsy guard against Peter the Great.Around that time Mussorgsky’s descent into alcoholism started for real.For a while he continued to compose: his famous piano suite, Pictures at an Exhibition, was written in 1874, but eventually his productive output practically came to a halt.There were periods of sobriety, during which he could write – his tremendous Songs and Dances of Death were written during one such period, and he sporadically continued to work on the Khovanshchina and another opera, The Fair at Sorochintsy.Neither of them were ever completed, Mussorgsky’s descend being inexorable.He lost his job and lived off his friends’ charity.Several days before his death, when Mussorgsky was already in a hospital, Ilya Repin painted the famous portrait, above.Mussorgsky died one week after his 42nd birthday, on March 27th of 1881.Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, a close friend, was one of the composers who worked on the scores left after Mussorgsky’s death.Rimsky-Korsakov’s birthday is also this week: he was born on March 18th of 1844.We’ll write about him another time.
Here, in a scene from Boris Godunov worthy of the best of Verdi, we’ll hear the great Russian tenor Ivan Kozlovsky singing the role of yurodivy (the holy fool) who is accusing the Tsar of murdering a child, Tzarevich Dmitry.Alexander Pirogov is Tzar Boris.Nikolay Golovanov leads the orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater.The recording was made in 1948.
Bach and Mussorgsky, 2015
March 16, 2015. Bach and Mussorgsky. Johann Sebastian Bach was born on March 21st of 1685 in Eisenach. We’ve writtenabout him so many times (last year, for example) that this time we’ll just go ahead with his music and write a bit about some other composers that were also born this week but are often overshadowed by the German master. So here’s Part II of The St. John Passion. Bach wrote it during his first years in Leipzig, where, in 1723, he was appointed the Thomaskantor. It was first performed on April 7th of the following year, during the Good Friday Vespers, at the St. Nicholas Church. In this recording theperformers are: Concentus Musicus Wien, the Arnold Schoenberg Choir, Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting.
Modest Mussorgsky, a composer of tremendous but only partly fulfilled talent, was born on March 21st of 1839. Mussorgsky was born in the village of Karevo in the Northwestern Pskov region of Russia. He belonged to an old, noble and quite wealthy family. He started piano lessons with his mother at the age of six. When he was ten, he and his brother were sent to St.-Petersburg to study at a German-language.jpg "Modest Mussorgsky (Ilya Repin, 1881)")
school where he was able to continue his piano lessons. At the age of 12 he published (with his father’s help) his first composition. A year later he entered the Cadet School in order to continue the family’s military tradition. The discipline at the school was lax, carousing encouraged, and that’s, apparently, where his drinking problems began. Upon graduating, he joined the elite Preobrazhensky regiment. He soon met Alexander Borodin, then a young military doctor and a budding composer, and Alexander Dargomyzhsky, who is practically forgotten outside of Russia but back then was considered the most important composer since Mikhail Glinka. Dargomyzhsky introduced Mussorgsky to Balakirev and Cui, the future members of the “Mighty Five.” Soon after Mussorgsky quit the military and devoted himself to music fulltime. The several following years were not very productive: he wrote some piano music, an incidental music to a play; he started working on Salammbô, an opera after Flaubert’s novel, but never finished it. In 1865, at the age of 26, he had his first real bout with alcoholism, but got out of it intact. One year later he finished the tone poem Night on Bald Mountain (Balakirev didn’t like it and it was never performed during Mussorgsky’s lifetime). He started working on an opera based on a story by Gogol, The Marriage, but soon abandoned that as well. Then, in 1868, an acquaintance, one Professor Nikolsky, an authority on Pushkin, suggested that Mussorgsky writes an opera based on Boris Godunov, Pushkin’s blank-verse play. Mussorgsky responded with great enthusiasm: he wrote a libretto based on Pushkin’s play and available historical documents and completed the first version of what turned out to be a large opera in less than a year. The opera, though, was rejected by major theaters, mostly because it lacked a leading female role. Undeterred, Mussorgsky went on to create a revised and expanded version. This version was accepted, and in 1872 parts of it were staged at the famed Mariinsky Theater in 1873. A year later the complete opera was staged at the same theater. Even though the public seemed to have liked it, it was poorly received by the critics and closed after just several performances. Some years later it was taken out of the repertory completely. In the meantime, Mussorgsy started working on Khovanshchina, a second large-scale opera project. The opera, which, as so many of his projects, was never completed, was also based on an episode from Russian history, a rebellion of the Old Believers and the Streltsy guard against Peter the Great. Around that time Mussorgsky’s descent into alcoholism started for real. For a while he continued to compose: his famous piano suite, Pictures at an Exhibition, was written in 1874, but eventually his productive output practically came to a halt. There were periods of sobriety, during which he could write – his tremendous Songs and Dances of Death were written during one such period, and he sporadically continued to work on the Khovanshchina and another opera, The Fair at Sorochintsy. Neither of them were ever completed, Mussorgsky’s descend being inexorable. He lost his job and lived off his friends’ charity. Several days before his death, when Mussorgsky was already in a hospital, Ilya Repin painted the famous portrait, above. Mussorgsky died one week after his 42nd birthday, on March 27th of 1881. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, a close friend, was one of the composers who worked on the scores left after Mussorgsky’s death. Rimsky-Korsakov’s birthday is also this week: he was born on March 18th of 1844. We’ll write about him another time.
Here, in a scene from Boris Godunov worthy of the best of Verdi, we’ll hear the great Russian tenor Ivan Kozlovsky singing the role of yurodivy (the holy fool) who is accusing the Tsar of murdering a child, Tzarevich Dmitry. Alexander Pirogov is Tzar Boris. Nikolay Golovanov leads the orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater. The recording was made in 1948.