成人快手

Who was Mussorgsky?

A cartoon of Modest Mussorgsky holding a piece of paper.

Modest Mussorgsky was a from Russia. He was born in 1839 and died in 1881.

One of his most famous pieces is called 'Pictures at an Art Exhibition'. It's like a musical version of an art gallery, but instead of seeing pictures, you hear them as short pieces of music. The music even describes the movement of people from picture-to-picture.

Mussorgsky often music by using traditional stories and folk tunes as a starting point.

His famous piece 'A Night on the Bare Mountain' was composed like this.

A cartoon of Modest Mussorgsky holding a piece of paper.
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What is 'A Night on the Bare Mountain' about?

A cartoon of a green troll.

'A Night on the Bare Mountain' is a piece of music for an .

It describes a short story about a place where lots of evil characters such as witches and trolls come out to play.

It's a wild and scary party with lots of dancing. Then, when the church bells ring at sunrise, the witches and trolls all vanish.

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Watch: A Night on the Bare Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky

Listen carefully to the orchestra performing 'A Night on the Bare Mountain'. Think about how you feel as they play.

Watch the 成人快手 National Orchestra of Wales perform Mussorgsky's 'A Night on the Bare Mountain'. This performance is part of Ten Pieces

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Activities

Listening challenge

Listen carefully again to the orchestra playing 'A Night on the Bare Mountain'. Can you answer these questions?

A cartoon of a girl thinking.
  • How does the music make you feel?
  • What instruments can you hear at the start of the piece?
  • Can you spot when the party stops and the sun rises in the music?
  • How has Mussorgsky done this in the music?
  • For an extra challenge, can you describe how Mussorgsky creates a sense of fear in his music? Think about dynamics, tempo, rhythm and pitch to answer this question.
A cartoon of a girl thinking.
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Quiz

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