Mussorgsky, Modest Petrovich, also spelt Moussorgsky or Musorgsky or Musorgski or Mussargsky 1835-81
Russian composer

Born in Karevo (Pskov), he was educated for the army but resigned his commission in 1858 after the onset of a nervous disorder, and began the serious study of music under Mili Balakirev. A member of the Glinka-inspired nationalist group in St Petersburg, which included Aleksandr Dargomizhsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, he first made a name with his songs, among them the well-known setting of Goethe's satirical 'Song of the Flea' (1879). His most impressive work is the opera Boris Godunov, first performed at St Petersburg in 1874, and his piano suite Pictures from an Exhibition (1874, Kartinki s vystarki) has also maintained its standing in the concert repertoire. Other operas and large-scale works remained uncompleted as the composer sank into the chronic alcoholism which hastened his early death. His friend Rimsky-Korsakov undertook the task of musical executor, arranged or completed many of his unfinished works and rearranged some of the finished ones, sometimes to the detriment of their robust individuality.