Modest Mussorgsky – Night on Bald Mountain, 1867. Reorchestrated and adapted by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, 1886.
Transcription for Solo Piano by Konstantin Chernov, adapted by Boris Berezovsky.
Performed by Boris Berezovsky.
The Night on Bald Mountain, a “fantasy for orchestra,” was originally conceived by Mussorgsky as a tone poem describing the Russian legend that talks of a witches’ sabbath taking place on St. John’s Night on the bald mountain (Lysa Hora) near Kiev. Rimsky-Korsakov’s revision of the piece stays true to the program, as seen below.
“Subterranean sounds of unearthly voices. Appearance of the Spirits of Darkness, followed by that of Chornobog. Glorification of Chornobog and celebration of the Black Mass. Witches’ Sabbath. At the height of the orgy, the bell of the little village church is heard from afar. The Spirits of Darkness are dispersed. Daybreak.”