Mussorgsky – Night on Bald Mountain | The Witches' Sabbath (arr. Rimsky-Korsakov)

Night on Bald Mountain, Mussorgsky's witches' sabbath, in the version that made it famous: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's arrangement of 1886. THE STORY Mussorgsky's score says he completed it "on the eve of St. John's Day, 23 June 1867": St. John's Eve, the very night of the witches' sabbath it depicts. In his own description, the witches gather on the mountain to await their chief, Satan, who sits on a throne "in the form of a kid". Mussorgsky was proud of it, but his mentor, Mily Balakirev, was savagely critical and refused to perform it. The score is peppered with comments such as "the devil knows what [this is]" and "what rubbish", probably pencilled in by Balakirev. Mussorgsky tried to reuse the music in two later stage projects, but Night on Bald Mountain was never performed in any form during his lifetime. In 1886, five years after Mussorgsky's death, Rimsky-Korsakov published his own arrangement, a "fantasy for orchestra" based on Mussorgsky's last version of the music. Some scholars consider it an original composition by Rimsky-Korsakov. It is through his version that the piece became famous; Mussorgsky's original tone poem was not published until 1968. RECORDING Musopen recording (Wikimedia Commons lists the performer as possibly the Skidmore College Orchestra), public domain. Mussorgsky (1839–1881) and Rimsky-Korsakov (1844–1908): the music is in the public domain. SOURCES Wikipedia, "Night on Bald Mountain": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_o... The recording: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... #Mussorgsky #NightOnBaldMountain #Halloween #ClassicalMusic