Kirjahaku

This famous work has had a chequered performance history, and Professor Laurel E. Fay points out that the interpretation of the opera depends on which edition is used. Robert Oldani introduces the “Boris problem”: Pushkin’s play was not an obvious choice for a young composer, since it had been banned for forty years, and it is the Russian people, rather than any single character, who is the protagonist. Alex de Jonge examines its uniquely Russian character and notes the unsettling parallels of the history of old Russia with today. Nigel Osborne’s comparison of the Rimsky-Korsakov and Mussorgsky versions highlights their individual qualities.Contents: Looking into ‘Boris Godunov’, Robert W. Oldani; A Historical Introduction, Nicholas John; The Drama and Music of ‘Boris’, Laurel E. Fay; Around ‘Boris Godunov’, Alex de Jonge; Boris: prince or peasant?, Nigel Osborne; Boris Godunov: Russian libretto (transliterated), Modest Mussorgsky; Boris Godunov: English translation by David Lloyd-Jones

Mussorgsky’s last opera dramatizes the conspiracy of Prince Khovansky against Tsar Peter the Great, and the epic ends with the exile, murder and suicide of all the power groups of old Russia. When Musorgsky died in 1881, it was unfinished, and Rimsky-Korsakov completed it; Ravel and Stravinsky made another version for Diaghilev in 1911; in 1959 Shostakovich went back to the original and rediscovered a masterpiece. Caryl Emerson offers a provocative reading of Mussorgsky’s achievement. Gerard McBurney relates the non-European inspiration in the score to Mussorgsky’s conception of history, while Rosamund Bartlett describes the cultural impetus for his historical vision.Contents: Apocalypse Then, Now, and (for Us) Never: Reflections on Musorgsky’s Other Historical Opera, Caryl Emerson; Musorgsky’s Music of Time, Gerard McBurney; ‘Khovanshchina’ in Context, Rosamund Bartlett; Khovanshchina: Libretto by Modest Musorgsky; The Khovansky Affair: English translation by Carol Borah Palca.

One of the first Russian tone poems, Night on Bald Mountain had its genesis in the late 1850s when Mussorgsky started sketches for a projected opera: St. John's Eve (1858), later changed to The Witch (1860) - based upon a scenario about a witches' sabbath on St. John's Eve. These were abandonded by the early 1860s but Mussorgsky contemplated a tone poem using the material featuring piano and orchestra along the lines of Liszt's Totentanz. The work was finally completed on St. John's Eve (June 23) of 1867 as an orchestral tone poem entited St. John's Eve on the Bare Mountain. The symphonic poem was never performed in the composer's lifetime. After rejection for performance, Mussorgsky reworked the material two more times for operatic projects that never materialized. After the composer's death his friend Rimsky-Korsakov prepared a new arrangement based on the last version composed for the opera Sorochintsy Fair which was published in 1886. Rimsky's arrangement became very popular, especially after its use in the 1939 Walt Disney film Fantasia in a very bowldwerized orchestration made by Leopold Stowkowski. Rimsky's setting is the work offered here - in a newly engraved edition by Richard W. Sargeant, Jr. It is now often regarded as more of a fantasy on themes by Mussorgsky composed by Rimsky-Korsakov. IMSLP page Wikipedia article

One of the first Russian tone poems, Night on Bald Mountain had its genesis in the late 1850s when Mussorgsky started sketches for the projected opera St. John's Eve (1858), later changed to The Witch (1860) - based upon a scenario about a witches' sabbath on St. John's Eve. These were abandonded by the early 1860s but Mussorgsky contemplated a tone poem using the material featuring piano and orchestra along the lines of Liszt's Totentanz. The work was finally completed on St. John's Eve (June 23) of 1867 as an orchestra tone poem entited St. John's Eve on the Bare Mountain. The symphonic poem was never performed in the composer's lifetime. After rejection for performance, Mussorgsky reworked the material two more times for operatic projects that never materialized. After the composer's death his friend Rimsky-Korsakov produced a new arrangement based on the last version composed for the opera Sorochintsy Fair, now often regarded as more of a fantasy on themes from the opera. Rimsky's arrangement became very popular, especially after its use in the 1939 Walt Disney film Fantasia in a highly bowdlerized re-orchestration by Leopold Stowkowski. Rimsky's setting is the work offered here - in an expertly researched edition prepared by Clinton F. Nieweg. Matching full score and orchestral parts are also available from Serenissima Music.

A study score of the spectacular new setting for wind symphony. Simpson's orchestration is the first one for winds based upon the composer's manuscript instead of the flawed 1886 edition of the piano original. Edited by the eminent American composer of wind music, Alfred Reed.