The main figure of this article will be Modest Mussorgsky. The biography of the composer begins on March 16, 1839 in one of the small villages of the Pskov region. From an early age, parents who belonged to an old family of nobles introduced the boy to music. His mother taught him to play the piano, and at the age of seven he already performed plays. A few years later, the future genius already mastered entire concerts.
Mussorgsky's biography in the early years of life
Few of the ancestors of Modest could have imagined that he would become a great musician and composer. All the Mussorgsky relatives were devoted to the state, and the men served in the army of the king. The exception was at first the father - Peter Mussorgsky, who had a great passion for music, and then his son, who inherited this gift. The first teacher in the piano specialty was Modest's mother - Julia Chirikova.
In 1849 Modest Mussorgsky went to St. Petersburg, and there he began his first professional lessons in music with the teacher A.A. Gerke. Under his leadership, he performs at chamber concerts, family evenings and other events. And already in 1852 he wrote and published his own polka under the name “Ensign”.
The foundation period of the "Mighty Handful"
Since 1856, Mussorgsky’s biography unfolds in the Preobrazhensky Regiment, in St. Petersburg, where he simultaneously meets the composer A. Borodin. They become very close friends, who are united not only by a common cause, but also by creativity - music. Some time later, he also met with A. Dargomyzhsky, M. Balakirev, C. Cui, as well as with the Stasov brothers. All these composers are familiar to us thanks to the “Mighty Handful” group, which they founded.
The main figure in their "pleiad" was Balakirev - he became a teacher and spiritual mentor for each composer. Together with him, Mussorgsky taught new concerts and large-scale works of such famous composers as Beethoven, Schubert, and Strauss. A visit to the Philharmonic, opera performances and other musical events contributed to the fact that for Modest the purpose of life was to learn about the beautiful and create it.
Mussorgsky’s biography during the period of the new work of “The Mighty Handful”
In the next decade, the composers of The Mighty Handbook made a rule that they should follow all the musical canons of M. Glinka. During this period, Mussorgsky wrote the music for the story of Sophocles “Oedipus the King”, and after that he took up the opera “Salambo”. Unfortunately, she remained unfinished, but many works written for her were included in the composer's masterpiece - in the opera Boris Godunov.
The period of travel and the heyday of creativity
In the 60s, Mussorgsky’s biography unfolds on new lands. He goes on a trip in which the city of Moscow becomes the main point. It was this place that inspired him to write his opera Boris Godunov, since, in his opinion, the women and men who were suitable for the production of him met him there.
In the future, the composer did not forget to give instrumental concerts, vocal performances. Among the pianists, he had no equal, and his own works were praised by many connoisseurs of beauty. It was in this world that the composer Mussorgsky spent his young years.
His biography changes dramatically in the 80s. Then his health was broken, his financial situation was shaken. He no longer had so much time for creativity, so he began to drink. He died on his birthday, in 1881, in a military hospital.