Night on Bald Mountain

A Maleficent Mountain 

With its powerful evocative force, the symphonic poem Night on Bald Mountain seems destined to inspire terror, so much so that Walt Disney included it in his iconic animated film Fantasia (1940). Composed in just twelve days in 1867, it draws inspiration from a short story by Nikolai Gogol, St. John’s Eve. Modest Mussorgsky was also deeply influenced by Georgy Mengden’s play The Witch, to the point of consulting books on sorcery to further stimulate his imagination. 

1. The symphonic poem is divided into four sections with the following titles: 
2. Assembly of the witches, their chatter and gossip 
3. Satan’s cortege 
4. Black mass 
5. Sabbath 

Faithful to his desire to illustrate action through orchestral techniques, the composer displays bold harmonic choices and effects that evoke diabolical screams, agitation, and an infernal atmosphere. Harshly criticized—particularly by Mily Balakirev, Mussorgsky’s mentor—the work was never published. In 1886, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov created an arrangement that achieved great success and helped bring the piece to international recognition. It is this version that remains the most frequently performed today, although the original, rougher and perhaps more authentically Russian, has resurfaced in recent years.