To paraphrase Britannica.com, Modest Mussorgsky's output doesn't reflect his massive footprint on Russian music.
He wrote very little music in his short life. But he captured the essence of the Russian people in his works.
According to his biography from Britannica.com, "Few composers were less derivative, or evolved so original and bold a style. The 65 songs he composed, many to his own texts, describe scenes of Russian life with great vividness and insight."
His "Night on Bald Mountain" was inspired by Gogol's story "St. John's Eve" and by Baron Mengden's play "The Witches."
Each story involves a terrifying witches sabbath.
Slavic and Ukrainian folklore also sparked his creativity.
It only took him a dozen days to whip up the work.
And not long after he completed it, Mussorgsky wrote to his friend Rimsky-Korsakov, who was also a composer. He called the work a "tone-picture," and said he considered it, "an original, native Russian achievement."
After Mussorgsky's untimely death, it was Rimsky-Korsakov who reworked the composition. Some actually call it a re-composition of the original.
