Night on Bald Mountain

Name#

The original Russian title of the tone poem, Иванова ночь на лысой горе, translates literally as Saint John’s Eve on Bald Mountain, usually shortened to Night on Bald Mountain. However, due to several ambiguities, the composition is also known by a number of alternative titles in English. The Russian word “ночь” (noch′) is literally “night” in English, but idiomatically this would refer to the night following St. John’s Day, variously observed between 21 June (the summer solstice) and 25 June. The night before St. John’s Day is usually referred to as “St. John’s Eve” in English; Russian does not make this distinction. Bald Mountain is the most familiar translation of “лысой горе” (lysoy gore) in English, and is also the most literal. The adjective “bald” is commonly used in English place names for barren hills, mountains, and other features, and so is also idiomatic. However, because the most familiar use of “bald” describes hairlessness, this part of the title is also known as “Bare Mountain”. The use of “bald” to describe barren landscapes is common in European languages. In French, the piece is known as and in Italian (A Night on Bald Mountain). Some performances of the work also insert the article “the” before “Bald Mountain” or “Bare Mountain”. Articles are not used in Russian, but are often applied to nouns when translating Russian into languages that regularly use articles, such as English and French. However, because the title of the work refers to a specific place called “Bald Mountain”, an article would not normally be used in English.

Opera project: St. John’s Eve (1858)#

A sheet of paper apparently found among Mussorgsky’s manuscripts contains the following statement: Program of the opera St. John’s Night, in three acts, after the tale by Gogol, written by P. Boborïkin, in the presence and with the help of Modest Mussorgsky, Yevgeniy Mussorgsky, and Vasiliy. Witness to the proceedings: Mily Balakirev. This curious fragment, dated 25 December 1858, has been interpreted as an indication of Mussorgsky’s intent to write an opera on the subject of Gogol’s short story St. John’s Eve (, Vecher nakanune Ivana Kupala, St. John’s Eve). Gogol’s tale contains the elements of witchcraft common to other stories in the Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka collection, but does not feature a Witches’ Sabbath. No further plans for this project were mentioned.

Opera project: The Witch (1860)#

The theme of a witches’ sabbath, the central theme in all subsequent Night on Bald Mountain projects, appears to have been derived from the nonextant play The Witch (, Ved′ma) by Baron Georgiy Mengden, a military friend of the composer. In 1860 Mussorgsky informed Balakirev that he had been commissioned to write one act of an opera on this subject: However, as with the previous project, it is unknown whether any materials were written down, and, if so, whether they were transferred to subsequent projects.

Work for piano and orchestra (early 1860s)#

Rimsky-Korsakov declares in his memoirs (Chronicle of My Musical Life) that in the early 1860s Mussorgsky, under the influence of Franz Liszt’s Totentanz, had written a version of the Bald Mountain music for piano and orchestra. However, it is believed that Mussorgsky did not hear Liszt’s work until 1866, by which time he was planning the orchestral tone poem St. John’s Eve on Bald Mountain (see below). No trace of a work for piano and orchestra has survived outside Rimsky-Korsakov’s recollections, so it is assumed that the score has been lost, or, more likely, that it never existed.

Composition history#

In 1866 Mussorgsky wrote to Balakirev expressing a desire to discuss his plans for The Witches, his informal name for his Bald Mountain music. In early June 1867, he began composing the orchestral version of the piece. The score is inscribed with the following details: Conceived in 1866. Began to write for orchestra 12 June 1867, completed work on the eve of St. John’s Day, 23 June 1867, in Luga District on Minkino Farm. Modest Mussorgskiy. Russian original: Задумана в 1866 году. Начал писать на оркестр 12-го июня 1867 года, окончил работу в Канун Иванова дня 23 июня 1867 года в Лугском уезде на Мызе Минкино. Модест Мусоргский Mussorgsky described the piece in a letter to Vladimir Nikolsky: So far as my memory doesn’t deceive me, the witches used to gather on this mountain, … gossip, play tricks and await their chief—Satan. On his arrival they, i.e. the witches, formed a circle round the throne on which he sat, in the form of a kid, and sang his praise. When Satan was worked up into a sufficient passion by the witches’ praises, he gave the command for the sabbath, in which he chose for himself the witches who caught his fancy. So this is what I’ve done. At the head of my score I’ve put its content: 1. Assembly of the witches, their talk and gossip; 2. Satan’s journey; 3. Obscene praises of Satan; and 4. Sabbath … The form and character of the composition are Russian and original … I wrote St. John’s Eve quickly, straight away in full score, I wrote it in about twelve days, glory to God … While at work on St. John’s Eve I didn’t sleep at night and actually finished the work on the eve of St. John’s Day, it seethed within me so, and I simply didn’t know what was happening within me … I see in my wicked prank an independent Russian product, free from German profundity and routine, and, like Savishna, grown on our native fields and nurtured on Russian bread. He also stated—incorrectly, as it turned out—that he would never re-model it: “with whatever shortcomings, it is born; and with them it must live if it is to live at all.” Having finally completed the work, Mussorgsky was crushed when his mentor Mily Balakirev was savagely critical of it. The score is peppered with comments such as “the devil knows what this is “, “what rubbish”, and “this might be of use”, probably pencilled in by Balakirev. This “first version” was put aside, and did not appear in print until 1968, in a new edition prepared by Georgiy Kirkor.

Performance history#

The original tone poem, St. John’s Eve on Bald Mountain (1867), was not performed until the 20th century. Musicologist Aleksandra Orlova claims that the original manuscript of this version was discovered in the library of the Leningrad Conservatory by musicologist Georgiy Orlov in the late 1920s, that it was performed once by the Leningrad Philharmonic Society, and that Nikolay Malko brought along a copy of it when he emigrated to the West. Gerald Abraham states that this version was performed by Malko on 3 February 1932, apparently in England. Michel-Dimitri Calvocoressi claims that Malko performed this version in several countries in 1933.

Instrumentation#

• Woodwinds: piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons
• Brass: 4 horns, 2 cornets, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba
• Percussion: timpani, bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, triangle, snare drum, tam-tam
• Strings: violins I & II, violas, cellos, double basses

Setting#

Russian legend tells of a witches’ sabbath taking place on St. John’s Night (23–24 June) on the Lysa Hora (Bald Mountain), near Kiev.

Program#

The following program is taken from the score:

Recordings#

• 1961, Lovro von Matacic, Philharmonia Orchestra
• 1962, Francesco Mander, Orchestra Sinfonica Torino
• 1971, David Lloyd-Jones, London Philharmonic Orchestra
• 1980, Claudio Abbado, London Symphony Orchestra
• 1988, John Williams, Boston Pops Orchestra
• 1991, Christoph von Dohnányi, Cleveland Orchestra
• 1991, Dmitriy Kitayenko, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
• 1993, Claudio Abbado, Berliner Philharmoniker
• 2001, Peter Richard Conte, transcribed for the Wanamaker Organ
• 2003, Theodore Kuchar, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine
• 2004, Valery Gergiev, BBC Symphony Orchestra
• 2006, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Los Angeles Philharmonic
• 2011, Kirill Karabits, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Composition history#

The first re-modelling of the tone poem took place in 1872, when Mussorgsky revised and recast it for vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra as part of act 3 that he was assigned to contribute to the collaborative opera-ballet Mlada. In this new version the music was to form the basis of the Night on Mount Triglav (, Noch′ na gore Triglave) scene. Mussorgsky referred to this piece under the title Glorification of Chernobog (, Slavlenye Chornoboga) in a list of his compositions given to Vladimir Stasov. In 1930, Pavel Lamm, in his edition of Mussorgsky’s complete works, referred to the piece as Worship of the Black Goat (, Sluzheniye chornomy kozlu). Mlada was a project doomed to failure, however, and this “second version” languished along with the first. The score of Glorification of Chernobog has not survived, and was never published or performed.

Program#

The following scenario is taken from Rimsky-Korsakov’s later “magic opera-ballet” Mlada (1890), based on the same libretto by Viktor Krïlov.

Setting#

Mlada is set in the 9th or 10th century city of Retra, in the (formerly) Slavic lands between the Baltic Sea coast and the Elbe River. This would be the land of the pre-Christian Polabian Slavs, in the region corresponding to the modern German areas of Holstein, Mecklenburg, or Vorpommern. The Mlada scenario is the only Bald Mountain setting that mentions a “Mt. Triglav”, where the supernatural events of act 3 take place. The name Triglav (tri three + glav head) happens to be the name of an ancient three-headed Slavic deity or a trinity of deities, and is also the name of a famous peak in Slovenia, which is, however, some 750 km distant.

Plot#

Voyslava and her father Mstivoy, the Prince of Retra, have poisoned Mlada, the betrothed of Yaromir, Prince of Arkona. Voyslava sells her soul to Morena, an evil goddess, to obtain her aid in making Yaromir forget Mlada so she may have him to herself. In act 3, the shade (ghost) of Mlada leads Yaromir up the slopes of Mount Triglav to a pine wood in a gorge on top of the mountain. Mlada’s shade joins a gathering of the spirits of the dead. She expresses in mime to Yaromir the wish to be reunited with him in the kingdom of dead souls. He is eager to join her. However, there is a rumbling sound announcing the appearance, apparently from underground, of the following fantastic characters (many of whom also appear in Dream Vision of the Peasant Lad from The Fair at Sorochyntsi, described below): The evil spirits sing in a strange demonic language, in the manner of the “demons and the damned” of Hector Berlioz’s La damnation de Faust. Morena calls on Chernobog to help make Yaromir forsake Mlada. Kashchey determines that Morena and Chernobog will be successful if Yaromir is seduced by another. Chernobog commands Yaromir’s soul to separate from his body, and for Queen Cleopatra to appear. Instantly the scene changes to a hall in Egypt, where the shade of Cleopatra attempts to entice Yaromir’s soul to her side with a seductive dance. She almost succeeds in doing so when a cock crow announcing the break of day causes the entire infernal host to vanish. Yaromir awakens and ponders the mysterious events he has witnessed.

Composition history#

The work’s “third version”, the Dream Vision of the Peasant Lad (, Sonnoye videniye parobka), was composed eight years later when Mussorgsky revived and revised the second version to function as a “dream intermezzo” in his opera The Fair at Sorochyntsi (1874–80), a work which was still incomplete at the time of his death in 1881. Mussorgsky’s piano-vocal score is dated 10 May 1880. Mussorgsky originally chose the end of act 1 of the opera as the location for his choral intermezzo. It is now generally performed in the Shebalin version (1930) of the opera, where it is relocated to act 3, just after a partial reprise of the peasant lad’s dumka. The theme of the dumka also serves as one of the main themes of the new quiet ending.

Performance history#

The Dream Vision of the Peasant Lad was first performed as part of Vissarion Shebalin’s performing edition of The Fair at Sorochyntsi, which premiered in 1931 in Leningrad at the Maly Theater, conducted by Samuil Samosud. Shebalin’s orchestration was published by Muzgiz (IMSLP) in 1934.

Setting#

The Fair at Sorochyntsi is set in and around the Ukrainian village of Velyki Sorochyntsi, some 500 kilometers east of Kiev and the famous “Bald Mountain” (Lysa Hora), in the year 1800.