The Patriotic Passion in Music

It is suggested that he was influenced by much(prenominal) historical events as the emancipation of serfs in Russia in 1861 which lead to the impoverishment of his family. Boris Godunov is his best known drub and is largely establish upon a play of the same name by Pushkin which was first off performed in 1866, leading to Mussorgsky's own composition in October 1868 (Mussorgsky, small(a) Petrovish, 2010).

It is worth noting that Mussorgsky has been characterized as one of "the Five" subject areaist Russian composers, a group that also included his close help Rimsky-Korsakov, Borodin, Cui, and Glinka (Asiado, 2007). As described by Dorak (2010), the Russian movement to be nationalist themes into medical specialty drew Russian composers away from a reliance on the canons of French and Italian music. St. Petersburg, Russia was the center of the work undertaken by the Five and it was after the 1830s that this picky movement became distinction of Russian music. Dorak (2010) pointed out that the plots of many of the works produced during this period were unbent to contemporary life, embodied with a distinctive and colorful national style in which realism predominated. Dorak (2010) states that Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov embodied the nationalist agenda.

Elements of the uniquely Russian harmonic language used in Boris Godunov and some other works of the era were described by Dorak (2010). The use of w

Mussorgsky, Modest Petrovich. (2010). Grove Music Online.

operational at www.oxfordmusiconline.com:80/subscriber

Nationalist music of this quality is oriented toward not only the explication of important historical events or ideology, but also toward the creation of a set of musical theater canons that become over time representative of a pack and a place (Nationalism in music, 2010).

Mussorgsky's opera firmly reflects this particular approach and is one of several nineteenth century Russian operas that deal with complex historical themes and function as a sort of musical psychoanalysis (Simeone, 2007). Far more than a historical drama this opera delves deeply into the character of Boris himself as well as the Russian people who are symbolically represented by a Holy Fool. The end chair is both good theater and ideology.

Emerson (1986) contends that there are conflict assessments of Boris' life with some stories suggesting that he was responsible for the death of Fyodor I and his legitimate heir, Dmitry. However, late in the reign of Godunov, a Polish-backed force of Russian malcontents led by a man claiming to be the dead Dmitry invaded Russia, temporarily assuming control of the throne. Only the accession of Mikhail Romanov in 1613 restored order to the country (Emerson, 1986).

Boris Godunov. Available at hypertext transfer protocol://sfopera.com/o

Boris Godunov. (2010). Oxford Music Online. Available at

at www.dorak.info/music/national.html. Accessed online

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