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                      Modest Musorgsky (1839-1881)
 

Rhythm  the music is in common time.  There is a simple rhythmic structure.  The same rhythms are found in all voices.  The tempo stays the same, but longer notes make the music sound slower.

Melody  the melody is mainly stepwise.  It moves up and down evenly.  There are two main themes that appear throughout the movement.  These two themes portray two styles, majestic and calm.

Harmony  the song is in a major key.  The sound is very consonant.  The phrases cadence on either the dominant or tonic.

Expressive Elements  the theme is always forte and the B always piano.  The opening theme is very majestic and powerful.  The other theme is calm and quiet.  There is some movement of dynamics in the music to give more feeling.

Work  This piece could be classified as program music.  Musorgsky first wrote it as a piano suite.  The way it is known is as an orchestral arrangement by Ravel.  The entire collection is made up of 10 different tunes.  It is supposed to represent pictures painted by Russian artist, Victor Hartman.

Composer  Modest Musorgsky (1839-1881) became one of the best known of all Russian composers.  He was born to a wealthy landowner.  His mother was first introduced him to the piano.  It is said that his nurse familiarized him with Russian folk tales.  He was sent to school at the Cadet School of the Guards, but was not given any training in music there.  He met Balakirev and studied composition under him.  He eventually ran into financial problems and entered the civil service.  He ended up meeting a group of brilliant men and joined their commune.  It was there that they discussed cultural and social issues.  While there, he received news that his mother had died.  He became very sick, both physically and mentally.  He was forced to leave the commune and was sent to his brother's home.  He spent that time recovering and writing music.  He spent much time on his opera Boris Gudunov.  He was still in debt so he continued working with government service.  He worked there for many years, before getting a stipend to go on a concert tour.  This landed him with a little money.  He was starting to get commissions for pieces of music.  This provided some money, but he tended to neglect finishing pieces of music.  He left the government service and finished out his life composing music.  He became very sick and had fits of epilepsy before dying in the hospital on March 28, 1881.
 

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Other sites of interest:

MENC home page- This is the home page of the music educators national conference.

Classical music-Want to find more about classical music. Click on this page to find out about composers and their music.