1881. Oil on canvas. The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. Read Note.
Mussorgsky, Modest Petrovich (1835-81) Russian composer, was educated for the army, but resigned in 1858 and began serious studies of music under M. Balakirev. He first made a name with his songs. His masterpiece opera Boris Godunov was first performed in St. Petersburg in 1874. His piano suite Pictures from Exhibition (1874) is also widely known. Other operas and large-scale works remained unfinished. His friend Rimsky-Korsakov undertook the task of musical executor, arranging or completing many of his unfinished works and rearranging some of the finished ones