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The Unexpurgated Mussorgsky
| Article
# : |
16259 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
Date : |
3 / 1989 |
3,141 Words |
| Author
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Tom Pniewski
Tom Pniewski is a musicologist at Hunter College in New York. |
"Absurd, disconnected harmony, ugly part-writing, sometimes
strikingly illogical modulation, sometimes a depressing lack
of it, unsuccessful scoring of the orchestral things."
--Rimsky-Korsakov, on Boris Gudunov
"He was the most strikingly individual Russian composer of the late nineteenth century."
--The New Groves Dictionary
"As an absolute musician, he is hopelessly limited, with
remarkably little ability to construct pure music or even a
purely musical texture."
--Gerald Abraham, on Mussorgsky
Which evaluation of Mussorgsky will prevail? Which of the contradictory appraisals of his achievement will prove valid?
Which image of him will survive the glassy-eyed, disorganized alcoholic painted in 1881 by Ilya Repin, or the dapper aristocrat in black tie and former guardsman photographed in 1875?
The nineteenth century enjoyed the dark side of genius, relished portraying the creator as fallen angel. It tried to find explanations for inspiration in the supernatural, even the darkly supernatural; just as there was a fascination with the satanic, there was a preoccupation with the creative artist as being somehow
... (1998 of 19402 Characters)
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