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Original Tone Poem (1867)

Setting:

Russian legend tells of a witches' sabbath taking place on St. John's Night (June 23-24) on the Lysa Hora (Bald Mountain), near Kiev.

Program:

The following program is taken from the score:

1. Сбор ведьм, их толки и сплетни (Assembly of the witches, their chatter and gossip)

2. Поезд Сатаны (Cortège of Satan)

3. Чёрная служба, Messe noire (Black service, Black mass)

4. Шабаш (Sabbath)

More details and a variation to this program may be found in a letter written by the composer to Vladimir Nikolsky:

"So far as my memory doesn't deceive me, the witches used to gather on this mountain, gossip, play tricks and await their chief—Satan. On his arrival they, i.e. the witches, formed a circle round the throne on which he sat, in the form of a kid, and sang his praise. When Satan was worked up into a sufficient passion by the witches' praises, he gave the command for the sabbath, in which he chose for himself the witches who caught his fancy. –So this is what I've done. At the head of my score I've put its content: 1. Assembly of the witches, their talk and gossip; 2. Satan's journey; 3. Obscene praises of Satan; and 4. Sabbath... The form and character of the composition are both Russian and original".

 från wikipedia: M.Mussorgsky - A Night on Bald Mountain

LPWJ transkript 10/04/09