Composition history In the years after Mussorgsky's death, his friends prepared his manuscripts for publication and created performing editions of his unfinished works to enable them to enter the repertoire. The majority of the editorial work was done by
Rimsky-Korsakov, who in 1886 produced a redacted edition of
Night on Bald Mountain from the
Dream Vision of the Peasant Lad vocal score. Rimsky-Korsakov discusses his work on the piece, designated a "fantasy for orchestra", in his memoirs,
Chronicle of My Musical Life (1909): During the season of 1882/83, I continued working on
Khovanshchina and other compositions of Mussorgsky's.
A Night on Bald Mountain was the only thing I could not find my way with. Originally composed in the sixties under the influence of
Liszt's
Danse Macabre (
Totentanz) for the piano with accompaniment of orchestra, this piece (then called ''St. John's Eve'', and both severely and justly criticized by
Balakirev) had long been utterly neglected by its author, gathering dust among his unfinished works. When composing
Gedeonov's
Mlada, Mussorgsky had made use of the material to be found in
Night, and, introducing singing into it, had written the scene of
Chernobog on Mount Triglav. That was the second form of the same piece in substance. Its third form had developed in his composing of
Sorochintsï Fair, when Mussorgsky conceived the queer and incoherent idea of making the peasant lad, without rhyme or reason, see the sabbath of devilry in a dream, which was to form a sort of stage intermezzo that did not chime at all with the rest of the scenario of
Sorochintsy Fair. This time the piece ended with the ringing of the village church bell, at the sounds of which the frightened evil spirits vanished. Tranquility and dawn were built on the theme of the peasant lad himself, who had seen the fantastic dream. In working on Mussorgsky's piece, I made use of its last version for the purpose of closing the composition. Now then, the first form of the piece was for piano solo with orchestra; the second form and the third, vocal compositions and for the stage, into the bargain (unorchestrated). None of these forms was fit to be published and performed. With Mussorgsky's material as a basis, I decided to create an instrumental piece by retaining all of the author's best and coherent material, adding the fewest possible interpolations of my own. It was necessary to create a form in which Mussorgsky's ideas would mould in the best fashion. It was a difficult task, of which the satisfactory solution baffled me for two years, though in the other works of Mussorgsky I had got on with comparative ease. I had been unable to get at either form, modulation, or orchestration, and the piece lay inert until the following year. {{hidden begin «В сезоне 1882/83 года я продолжал работу над «Хованщиной» и другими сочинениями Мусоргского. Не давалась мне только «Ночь на Лысой горе». Сочиненная первоначально в 60-х годах под влиянием листовского «Danse macabre» для фортепиано с сопровождением оркестра, пьеса эта (называвшаяся в то время «Ивановой ночью» и подвергшаяся суровой и справедливой критике Балакирева) была надолго совершенно заброшена автором и лежала без движения среди его «inachevé». При сочинении гедеоновской «Млады» Мусоргский воспользовался имеющимся в «Ночи» материалом и, введя туда пение, написал сцену Чернобога на горе Триглаве. Это был второй вид той же пьесы по существу. Третий вид ее образовался при сочинении «Сорочйнской ярмарки», когда Мусоргскому пришла странная и несуразная мысль заставить парубка, ни с того ни с сего, увидеть шабаш чертовщины во сне, что должно было составить некое сценическое интермеццо, отнюдь не вяжущееся со всем остальным сценариумом «Сорочинской ярмарки». На этот раз пьеса оканчивалась звоном колокола деревенской церкви, при звуках которого испуганная нечистая сила исчезала. Успокоение и рассвет были построены на теме самого парубка, видевшего фантастическое сновидение. При работе над пьесой Мусоргского я воспользовался последним вариантом для заключения сочинения. Итак, первый вид пьесы был solo фортепиано с оркестром, второй и третий вид – вокальное произведение, и притом сценическое (не оркестрованное). Ни один из видов этих не годился для издания и исполнения. Я решился создать из материала Мусоргского инструментальную пьесу, сохранив в ней все, что было лучшего и связного у автора, и добавляя своего по возможности менее. Надо было создать форму, в которую уложились бы наилучшим способом мысли Мусоргского. Задача была трудная, удовлетворительно разрешить которую мне не удавалось в течение двух лет, между тем как с другими сочинениями Мусоргского я справился сравнительно легко. Не давались мне ни форма, ни модуляции, ни оркестровка, и пьеса лежала без движения до следующего года.» Rimsky-Korsakov made "corrections" typical of him, as he did with
Khovanshchina, and was later to do with
Boris Godunov, preserving the general thematic structure, but adding or omitting bars, and making modifications to melody, harmony, rhythm, and dynamics.
Performance history Rimsky-Korsakov's edition was completed in 1886, and published in the same year by
V. Bessel and Co. It received its premiere on 15 October 1886 in
St. Petersburg's Kononov Hall, performed by the orchestra of the
Russian Symphony Concerts. Rimsky-Korsakov conducted the performance himself, and gives the following account of it in his memoirs,
Chronicle of My Musical Life (1909): The orchestration of
A Night on Bald Mountain, which had baffled me so long, was finished for the concerts of [the 1886/87] season, and the piece, given by me at the first concert in a manner that could not be improved upon, was demanded again and again with unanimity. Only a tam-tam had to be substituted for the bell; the one I selected at the bell-store proved to be off pitch in the hall, owing to a change in temperature. The Western European premiere performance of his edition was likely the one described further on: In the summer of 1889, the
Paris Universal Exposition took place.
Belyayev decided to give there two symphonic concerts of Russian music at the
Trocadéro, under my direction... The concerts were set for Saturdays 22 and 29 June, new style. Upon our arrival in Paris, rehearsals commenced. The orchestra, which proved to be excellent, the men being amiable and painstaking, had been borrowed from
Colonne. Their playing in the concerts was fine... The success was considerable, with plenty of applause, but the attendance was not large.
Night on Bald Mountain was performed at the second concert, on 29 June 1889, where it followed
Borodin's 'Polovtsian Dances' and 'Polovtsian March' from
Prince Igor in the second half of the program. Rimsky-Korsakov later mentions another performance of the piece, taking place on 25 April 1890, at the
Théâtre de la Monnaie in
Brussels.
Instrumentation •
Woodwinds: piccolo, 2
flutes, 2
oboes, 2
clarinets, 2
bassoons •
Brass: 4
horns, 2
trumpets, 3
trombones,
tuba •
Percussion: timpani,
bass drum,
cymbals,
tam-tam,
bell •
Strings: harp,
violins,
violas,
cellos,
double basses
Program The following program is printed in Rimsky-Korsakov's edition of
Night on Bald Mountain, published in 1886 by
V. Bessel and Co.: Subterranean sounds of non-human voices. Appearance of the spirits of darkness, followed by that of Chernobog. Glorification of Chernobog and
Black Service. Sabbath. At the height of the sabbath, the distant ringing of a village church bell is heard; it disperses the spirits of darkness. Morning. {{hidden begin ==Leopold Stokowski's arrangement:
Night on Bald Mountain (1940)==