Modest Mussorgsky: The Troubled Dramatist [The Mighty Handful, Pt. 5/6]

[@ClassicalNerd]

*I'm currently fighting a false copyright claim on the public-domain recording of **_Pictures at an Exhibition_** I used in this video.* If you'd like to support my work, links to my Patreon and Bandcamp are in the description. Speaking of Patreon, I'd like to welcome new patron *Andres Abarca,* who joined after this video was produced.

[@andresabarca37]

Amazing video as always Thomas! Thanks!

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

This is of course absolutely disgraceful. Are these actual human beings? What right does anyone have over anything when it's teaching others facts. I shall investigate Patreon further as I've been following others who have mentioned this word.

[@ClassicalNerd]

Update: the false copyright claim has finally been rescinded!

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

@@ClassicalNerd JUSTICE!!! I was beginning to think that was a word from the past. I raise a glass to you.

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

This is without doubt the best "post" in the series so far (with only one to go I can't see it getting better). 30 minutes of absolutely outstanding facts about a composer who, quite frankly, didn't set the world on fire! I cannot thank you enough for these amazing videos. A wonderful learning tool for the world.

[@ClarissaBrown-e9b]

Went to a concert by Johannesburg Philharmonic and KZN Phil (counted 79 musicians) this eve and they performed Pictures at an Exhibition. I hadn't listened to it for a few years and it was FANTASTIC. I think MM was a genius. Thanks for this interesting lecture

[@ADarkandStormyNight]

I will never forget the first time I came across Mussorgsky. I was reading a textbook, I believe the Joy of Music, when I was about fourteen and there was a chapter headed with his name. My response was "what is so modest about this guy?" as I took his first name as an adjective not a noun hahaha.

[@mrtriffid]

Pictures is one of the great miracles of modern music. Completely without precedence or comparison.

[@moniquethomas3610]

Classical Nerd: Absolutely love your commentaries. I know how it feels to love Classical Music and have virtually no one with whom to discuss it in such depth, and with such humor and flowing energy- as you do here. Well, we are your appreciative audience. I'll bring a correction to a set of life span dates to your attention, if I may: the enigmatic French Composer Maurice Ravel lived from 1875 to 1937, and not 1834-73, as what is posted. Not your fault, of course. If he left us in 1873, he would have never crossed paths with Claude Debussy and so many other French Expresssionist geniuses. In addition, many thanks for including Scott Joplin, and I will be patient in waiting for your future commentary about Frederick Delius, if you are so inspired. Ta!

[@ClassicalNerd]

I copied and pasted the subtitles, so sometimes I forgot to change one or both of them. I changed the way I do these lower thirds after the Mighty Handful series, so videos within (roughly) the past year or so don't suffer from that possibility.

[@walterbenjamin1386]

I fell in love with Musorgsky when I first heard the choruses from Boris Godunov. Boris and Khovanshchina are dramatic and musical works of genius and really beautiful. I also love Rimsky-Korsakov's operas, so his work on these is just fine with me.

[@stevehinnenkamp5625]

Another masterful discussion. What little survived is sensational, provocative, unique.

[@kenm.3512]

An excellent presentation, Thomas. My first exposure to Mussorgsky was the London Phase 4 Stokowski American SO vinyl 33 and a third. It was Stokie's take on Pictures. It made a big impression on me as an 8 year old, 50 or so years ago. It was a gateway recording in regards to my continuing fascination with classical music. I especially hear Mussorgsky's influence in Shostakovich's music among many others. Thank you, Thomas. I always feel intellectually refreshed and entertained when I watch your clips. This is indeed a fine one. I love the Boulez clip. I admit not caring for his music but your presentation had my interest from beginning to end. Great stuff.

[@joycegeertsma7115]

THANK YOU for this; I've been looking for a documentary on Mussorgsky for years. I grew up listening to all sorts of music, classical included, and I was spell-bound by Mussorgsky's Pictures At An Exhibition (orchestral) from an early age. The original piano version I love beyond words (by Ashkenazy).

[@Posturtle]

Mussorgsky is my second favorite composer. Even before streaming music was a thing, I managed to track down most of the pieces you mentioned here.

[@theponderingplumb9790]

An excellent essay! Thanks for your research. I’ve always been quite moved by pictures at an exhibition, and all of its prog rock/digital music derivatives.

[@classicalmusic3334]

Great video! Undoubtedly, Pictures at an Exhibition is my absolute favourite piano piece.

[@autsni]

happy 156th birthday Ricard Strauss!

[@glensheppard1056]

So recently I have been exposed to the music of Mussorgsky, and I have been having a hard time founding good information on him, so this has been a very interesting video. This video has been quite enjoyable so thank you

[@mybachhertzbaud3074]

Isao Tomita's version of Pictures at an exhibition was what turned me on to this piece. I now run it through my synthesizers on a pretty regular basis.😁🎶🎹🎶Play On

[@martinpitchon5578]

I like very much his explanations

[@joellleoj]

Very nice video, as always, thank you. Thomas Goss at the "Orchestration Online" youtube channel did a very extensive score analysis of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition last year, hosted a community orchestration challenge for the piece, and evaluated many of the orchestrated products. Other works have gotten the treatment as well.

[@flaviucalin]

I think Mussorgsky was inspired from the very begining part of Mendelssohn's "Violin Concerto In E Minor", reducing the tempo. I listened recent and for the first time this Mendelssohn Concerto and the first part seemed so familiar. Where it is from??? I finally remembered: Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition!!! I have the vinyl and I found!!! THE OLD CASTLE!!! I listened again and again, one and another. I'm not an expert, but for me was inspiration, theft or coincidence.

[@lambdaodysseus722]

Thanks a lot for the video about one of the best boi from the Могучая кучка. Мусоргский - воистину сокровище, которое мы не смогли при жизни правильно оценить.

[@hutaolover6665]

can’t believe i found bronya under a video of a russian composer bur am not surprised

[@rubiegrimmett2788]

His piece Night on Bald Mountain truly made me love classical music. His music is so raw and authentic. So sad he was an alcoholic…. That’s the only reason I don’t have him tattooed on me. Because he genuinely was not a good guy lol

[@jyosephineanne]

Excellent video, keep up the great work! Would love to see one on Hanns Eisler.

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@vanallensattic4468]

Rimsky's version of "Night on Blad Mt. " actually follows quite closely Mussorgsky's plot or musical narrative in the choral version of Sorochinsk including the shepards flute them at dawn at the end. He did 3 versions, the middle one done for "Mlada" seems lost. Also his style was a big influence on Debussy.

[@karlseminaro7824]

Very good!

[@seanramsdell4117]

Night on Bald Mountain in Fantasia always scares me since I'm a religious person, but am so glad that Schubert's Ave Maria closes the film

[@ClassicalNerd]

_Fantasia_ is a really excellently balanced film in that regard.

[@seanramsdell4117]

@@ClassicalNerd Also love Fantasia 2000

[@rubiegrimmett2788]

What about the piece goes against your religious views?

[@seanramsdell4117]

@@rubiegrimmett2788 Nothing, just scared about Hell

[@marknieuweboer8099]

The problem with Mussorgsky was indeed that he was ahead of his time. Tchaikovsky: "a hopeless case, superior in talent, narrow minded, devoid of any urge towards self-perfection." Seems 50% correct to me, given all the unfinished projects. Rimsky predicted that eventually the world would prefer Mussorgsky's originals to the reworks and was okay with this. Lyadov: "It's 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."

[@DrMarianus]

May I suggest Vasily Kalinnikov? His was a tragic life also. And I love his symphonies. Thank you.

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted.

[@TheListerbo]

Great!

[@thomascampbell127]

Mussorgsky is the closest to the original vision of the mighty handful. He is an underrated master like Borodin, Glinka, Barvinsky, etc.

[@swymaj02]

This man makes Da Vinci look productive. A bit relatable if I'm honest. Oh, and u got Ravel's date wrong.

[@emilynightingale7758]

yay!

[@cerveraux]

I've noticed some editions has a C before the Bb at the final of Goldengerg und Schmuyle, the edition you present here has both in the different hands. Some pianists also play a C instead of a Bb

[@renatmelamed6140]

Boris Godunov is my favourite opera.

[@Mythologos]

Wow, he's a *major* Burl Ives fan.

[@themajor2072]

It’s sad really, to think that Mussorgsky’s reputation would be completely posthumously annihilated in the eyes of academia as a result of his contemporaries. In many ways he represents what The Mighty Handful was, both in its lofty aspirations and in its abject failures. He cultivated an amateurish style informed by the Russian culture and language around him, just as Balakirev himself aspired for all of Russian art to be, and yet he was so much more committed to this way of living as an artist that even Balakirev could not follow him. He made the other members hypocrites, their condemnation of him was just as narrow minded as the criticisms of men like Tchaikovsky and Rubinstein, and all the more hollow. He contributed more to the unique and original sound of Russian music than the other four combined, and that’s with the “corrections” (a word that, if we’re being honest, effectively means “edited for a Western audience’s sensibilities”) that the others imposed. His failures were the failures of the vision of the Five, his successes represent the truest incarnation of their vision of a uniquely Russian sound free of academic constraint, and it was for being too true to his own Russian soul that he has been unjustly maligned for over a century.

[@michaweinst3774]

I consider Mussorgsky to be one of the great musical pioneers of the late 19th century to the early 20th along with Wagner, Liszt, Richard Strauss, Wolf, Mahler and the Second Viennese School.

[@stephenfegely]

TY

[@seanramsdell4117]

What would you call Rimsky on your next vid? The Mighty Perfecter? The Tone Poet? The Handy Orchestrator?

[@ClassicalNerd]

You'll just have to see!

Great series! Is "Le Six" or "Måndagsgruppen" up next? 😉 I hope you dont mind me suggesting that you use a little bigger font for the texts (or a white on black background/vice versa) under the pictures? It's a bit hard to read them without having to pause the video and squinting my eyes. Which is a shame, since I really enjoy those descriptions, they're really funny 😄

[@ClassicalNerd]

There is the distinct possibility of me doing a Les Six series similar to this one once one of them pops up at the top of the request pool (since doing one will doubtless get me requests for the others). As for the Måndagsgruppen, I might do an overview video on them, but I fear that there simply isn't enough on each of those composers (especially in English) to make an actual series worthwhile. I definitely have found working with the text to be troublesome and will change the style for future videos (with Rimsky-Korsakov the last to have this harder-to-read style).

@@ClassicalNerd I understand, It's sadly true that information in english is lacking when it comes to swedish composers. Also, the group was a pretty large one, consisting of not just composers, but musicians and conductors as well, like legendary choir director Eric Ericsson, founder of the famous Eric Ericsson Chamber Choir 🙂 my father also knew Ingvar Lidholm, the last of the composers in the group, who passed away just a few years ago. He took lessons in composition from Lidholm during the 60s at the Royal Academy of music in Stockholm during his organ-studies.

[@vanallensattic4468]

You're about my most favorite music historian on the web, But you seem to be missing a point everybody else does, and that is Night on Bald Mt. the Popular Rimsky version which mostly taken from Mussorgsly's Choral Version, in Fair at Sorochinsk. It's basically the same piece , only orchestrated by Rimsky with small editing, even down to the shepards flute song at the end indicative of sunrise which doesn't exist in his original version. The whole plan of the recognised popular version in Disney etc. is all Modest's, with slight editing from the operatic version.

[@ZeacorZeppelin]

I watched Boris Gudonov the original and the altered versions.

[@levicopp3224]

Refer to Ilya Repin's painting of the composer that so memorably captures the ravages and ruinous effects of his alcoholism. Without question Pictures at an Exhibition is the greatest and most monumental Russian piano composition. Rimsky Korsakov's orchestration of the work is brilliant but lacks its rough hewn and genius of the characteristions contained within this magnum opus. Not to speak of the terrifying Baba Yaga and the triumphalism of The Heroic Gate of Kiev

[@themanupdtairs]

Boom, roasted. °air horns°

[@ha3vy]

Great video as always, also would you talk about vasily kalinnikov? His 1st symphony is one of the most underrated pieces of music ever written

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@karlseminaro7824]

I have found a new composer named André Mathieu. Is it in your list?

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html Please note that, now that you have five active requests in the pool, I am unable to take any more requests from you until one of them (Khachaturian, Myaskovsky, Glazunov, Moszkowski, or Mathieu) has been produced.

[@adrianflamme4967]

Great video! I'd like to make a request for Max Reger please

[@ClassicalNerd]

Duly noted: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@smashissocool65]

Have you ever ran into fantasia before?

[@ClassicalNerd]

I'm assuming you mean the Disney film? I've seen it, once, in my freshman year of college.

[@smashissocool65]

@@ClassicalNerd huh, i asked that cause it was Mussorgsky themed

[@ClassicalNerd]

Not sure I'd go that far. _Night on Bald Mountain_ is just one of many individual sequences, and it's the only Mussorgsky selection.

[@seanramsdell4117]

16:13 Is "Samuel Goldenberg und Schmuyle" anti-Semitic?

[@ClassicalNerd]

That's a whole can of worms that I didn't dive into (but the resources linked in the description talk about it a little more). The movement itself is pretty tame in that it just evokes traditional Jewish music, and ascertaining the true extra-musical influences largely (as I mentioned in the video) rely on Stasov's interpretations. Add onto this the nature of Hartmann's paintings (which, it can be argued, play into stereotypes) and the general cultural anti-Semitism of the late Russian Empire and you can make a case in either direction, although it's flimsy to equate mere use of Jewish idioms with antisemitic attitudes.

[@vanallensattic4468]

hello

[@patrickwoods2213]

So the question is - was Mussorgsky a genius, or just a troubled mind that was able to produce genius ideas every once in awhile?

[@marknieuweboer8099]

Both. And some more.

[@iknowimaysoundgaywhenisayt386]

Can u do Scott joplin

[@ClassicalNerd]

You've already requested Joplin: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@ClassicalNerd]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZyWnndth7CKhck

[@OingoLove]

Dude. MM had ADHD.

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

Actually, I think Mussorgsky spent a third of his life drunk, a third of his life asleep and a third of his life trying to remember what he was doing when he was drunk !! :-)

[@evagrant7907]

DavidA: IDIOTIC POST

[@DavidA-ps1qr]

@@evagrant7907 Of course it's idiotic Eva. How else would you be able to understand it?

[@dark_enigma9272]

E

[@alfonsomartinez328]

Vivaldi please

[@ClassicalNerd]

You've already requested Vivaldi: lentovivace.com/classicalnerd.html

[@maestroukr]

"Мусоргский" has nothing to do with garbage. The root of the word is "мусорг" not "мусор."

[@ClassicalNerd]

Since my Russian knowledge ends at being able to barely sound out Cyrillic, I relied on the expert sources cited in the description.

[@geoycs]

I wonder why you choose to keep calling Mussorgsky an "idiot?"