Night On Bald Mountain (Modest Petrovič Musorgskij)
A Night on Bald Mountain is a symphonic poem by Modest Petrovich Musorgsky.
Inspired by Russian literary works and legends, Musorgsky made a witches 'sabbath the theme of a symphonic poem which he titled The Night of St John on Bald Mountain (Russian: Иванова ночь на лысой горе, Ivanova noč' na lysoj gore?), completing it on June 23, 1867, the eve of the feast of Ivan Kupala.
The Bald Mountain in question is located in Ukraine: her name is Lysa Hora. A night on Mount Bald and Sadko by Nikolaj Rimskij-Korsakov were, in 1867, the first symphonic poems by Russian composers [1].
Although Musorgsky was very proud of this work, he never managed to get it done while he was alive.
The work became famous in Rimsky-Korsakov's version of 1886, which however profoundly modified it: the original version was only rediscovered in 1968 and has gradually gained popularity since then.
Many listeners first became acquainted with this work when they saw the Walt Disney film Fantasia, which used an arrangement of the Rimsky-Korsakov version done by Leopold Stokowski.
The Story.
The story of a peasant who witnesses a coven on Mount Pelado, was enough for the Russian composer to make a horrifying work.
As if the music and the story weren't enough, the famous Disney movie Fantasia made this piece immortal that has earned it, on its own merits, being on this terrifying Halloween music list.
