When the inspiration was upon him, he could apply himself with superhuman intensity, as he did when composing the initial version of Boris Godunov. Sadly, Musorgsky deteriorated in his final years, suffering periods of inner turmoil, when his alcoholism would be out of control. Finally, unemployed and all but destitute, he died at age forty-two. His failure to complete his two remaining operas, Khovanshchina and Sorochintsy Fair, Brown concludes, is one of music's greatest tragedies."--BOOK JACKET.

Schonberg brings the reader closer to an identification with the composers he discusses and thus closer to an understanding of their music. The book consequently places more emphasis on biographical details and less upon technical analysis of the music.

Caryl Emerson and Robert Oldani take a comprehensive look at the most famous Russian opera, Modest Musorgsky's Boris Godunov.

Publisher Description

Suggests how the death of a friend, Victor Hartmann, inspired the music of Modest Mussorgsky in St. Petersburg in the 1870s.