Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain for Woodwind Quintet

Description

Night on Bald Mountain depicts a witches sabbath on St. John's Day, the night between June 23rd and 24th. Its sections present the infernal noise of ghostly voices, the chattering and quarrelling of witches, the appearance of ghosts, the dance of witches and demons, the appearance of Satan, the adoration and Black Mass, and finally the pealing bells of the village church, announcing the break of day and thus the end of the witches sabbath.

Whether intentionally or not, Mussorgsky actually finished the work on the eve of St. John's Day, June 23, 1867, after spending twelve days on its composition.

Technically speaking, this exciting version for wind quintet is the arrangement of an arrangement, as Mussorgsky's symphonic poem is almost invariably heard in the familiar version by Rimsky-Korsakov.