Modest Mussorgsky

Full Name: Modest Petrovich Musorgsky
Profession: Composer

Biography: Innovative Russian music composer of the Romantic period, he is most remembered for the opera "Boris Godunov", the orchestral piece "Night On Bald Mountain", and later orchestrations of his piano work "Pictures at an Exhibition".

Along with Mily Balakirev, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Alexander Borodin, and César Cui, Mussorgsky was part "The Five", a group who worked together to create a distinct Russian national style of classical music. They lived in Saint Petersburg and collaborated from 1856 to 1870.

"Night on Bald Mountain" (1868) gained wider recognition when used in the climatic scenes of the American films "The Wizard of Oz" (1939) and Walt Disney's "Fantasia" (1940).

"Pictures at an Exhibition" (1874) served originally as virtuoso piano piece was successfully orchestrated by many, most notably Maurice Ravel (1924), and the progressive rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer (1971).

Born: March 21, 1839
Birthplace: Karevo, Pskov Governorate, Russian Empire
Star Sign: Aries

Died: March 28, 1881 (aged 42)
Cause of Death: Complications of alcoholism