Night On Bald Mountain: Classical Music For Halloween
/Halloween arrives in 10 days away and to help set the mood Classical Music In (About) A Minute will highlight music that is spooky, sinister, eerie, and just fun.
Night On Bald Mountain was one of the first "tone-poems" ever composed by a Russian composer. (A tone poem is a composition typically from the romantic period that tells a specific story) Mussorgsky completed his composition on June 23rd, 1867. The tone poem may be based on a Russian legend that claims witches meet the night before Saint John's Day (June 24th) to commemorate the summer solstice when the night is as long as the day. The original title was "St. John's Eve on Bald Mountain."
When Mussorgsky gave the composition to his teacher, his teacher refused to perform it, saying it was no good. Mussorgsky, however, was proud of his work, so he took parts of Night on Bald Mountain and worked them into future compositions. Altogether he has two re-workings of the tone poem. One became "Glorification of Chernobog" from his opera Mlada, and "Dream Vision of the Peasant Lad" from another opera, The Fair at Sorochyntsi. Both of these operas are less known and rarely performed.
It wasn't until after his death that his friend, Nikolai Rimsky-Korakov, rearranged the tone poem and performed it on October 15th, 1866, five years after Mussorgsky's death.