''Songs and Dances of Death'' (russian: Песни и пляски смерти, ''Pesni i plyaski smerti'') is a

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...

for voice (usually

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing thr ...

) and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky ( rus, link=no, Модест Петрович Мусоргский, Modest Petrovich Musorgsky , mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj, Ru-Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky version.ogg; – ) was a Russian compo ...

, written in the mid-1870s, to poems by

Arseny Golenishchev-Kutuzov Arseny Arkadyevich Golenishchev-Kutuzov (; 1848–1913), was a Russian poet known in part for writing the texts of Modest Mussorgsky's two song cycles of the 1870s: '' Sunless'' and ''Songs and Dances of Death''. He was the son of (1812-1859), a ...

, a relative of the composer. Each song deals with death in a poetic manner although the depictions are realistic in that they reflect experiences not uncommon in 19th century Russia: child death, death in youth, drunken misadventure and

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. The song cycle is considered Mussorgsky's masterpiece in the genre.

Songs

''Songs and Dances of Death'' consists of four individual songs, as follows: 1. ''

Lullaby A lullaby (), or cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies they are used to pass down cultural knowled ...

'' (''Колыбельная'') (14 April 1875) (in

F-sharp minor F-sharp minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative major is A major and its parallel major is F-sharp major (or enharmonically G-flat major). T ...

–

A minor A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and its parallel major is A major. The A natural minor scale is: : Changes ...

) :A mother cradles her sick infant, who grows more feverish.

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

appears, disguised as a babysitter, and rocks the infant to eternal sleep. 2. ''

Serenade In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honor of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Italian w ...

'' (''Серенада'') (11 May 1875) (in E minor– E-flat minor) :The figure of Death waits outside the window of a dying woman, in the manner of a wooing lover. 3. '' Trepak'' (''Трепак'') (17 February 1875) (in

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed for t ...

) :A drunken peasant stumbles outside into the snow and becomes caught in a blizzard. The figure of Death invites him to dance a folk-dance called the Trepak. As he freezes to death, he dreams of summer fields and doves. 4. ''The

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

'' (''Полководец'') (5 June 1877) (in E-flat minor–

) :The figure of Death is depicted as an officer marshaling, illuminated by

the moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the List of natural satellites, fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth ( ...

, the dead troops of both armies after a dreadful and bloody battle. She tells them: in life you were enemies but now you are comrades, because you're all dead, and I am your commanding officer. She assures them that although the living will forget about them, she will remember them, and will harden the earth above them so that they cannot be resurrected.

Recordings

The ''Songs and Dances of Death'' have been recorded by numerous vocalists, including

Vladimir Rosing Vladimir Sergeyevich Rosing (russian: Владимир Серге́евич Розинг) (November 24, 1963), also known as Val Rosing, was a Russian-born operatic tenor and stage director who spent most of his professional career in the United ...

, George London,

Ferruccio Furlanetto Ferruccio Furlanetto (born 16 May 1949 in Sacile, Italy) is an Italian bass. His professional debut was in 1974 in Lonigo, he debuted at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan in 1979, in a production of Verdi's ''Macbeth'', conducted by Claudio Abbado. H ...

Nicolai Ghiaurov Nicolai Ghiaurov (or ''Nikolai Gjaurov'', ''Nikolay Gyaurov'', bg, Николай Гяуров) (September 13, 1929 – June 2, 2004) was a Bulgarian opera singer and one of the most famous basses of the postwar period. He was admired for hi ...

Boris Christoff Boris Christoff ( bg, Борис Кирилов Христов, Boris Kirilov Hristov, ; 18 May 1914 – 28 June 1993) was a Bulgarian opera singer, widely considered one of the greatest basses of the 20th century. Early life He was born i ...

Kim Borg Kim Borg (August 7, 1919April 28, 2000) was a Finnish bass, teacher and composer. He had a wide-ranging, resonant, warm voice. Biography Kim Borg was born in Helsinki. He studied voice with Heikki Teittinen at the Sibelius Academy (1936–1941 ...

Martti Talvela Martti Olavi Talvela (4 February 1935 – 22 July 1989) was a Finnish operatic bass. Born in Hiitola, Finland (now in the Republic of Karelia), the eighth of ten children

(twice: once with piano accompaniment and once with full orchestra),

Matti Salminen Matti Kalervo Salminen (born 7 July 1945) is a Finnish operatic bass, now retired, who has sung at the most important opera houses of the world, including the Metropolitan and Bayreuth Festival. He is distinguished by an imposing figure and ...

Anatoly Kotcherga Anatoli Kotcherga (Ukrainian: Анатолій Іванович Кочерга ; Born July 9, 1947 in Samhorodok, the Winnyzja district, Ukraine), PAU, is a Ukrainian operatic bass. He studied music at the Kiev Conservatory. In 1971 he won a pri ...

Paata Burchuladze Paata Burchuladze ( ka, პაატა ბურჭულაძე) (born 12 February 1955) is a Georgian operatic bass and civil activist. After his debut in his native Tbilisi in 1976, he embarked on a 35-year-long musical career during which h ...

Aage Haugland Aage Haugland (1 February 1944 – 23 December 2000) was a Danish operatic bass. Life and career Haugland was born in Copenhagen and made his professional debut in Oslo in 1968. From 1970 to 1973 he was based in Bremen, and appeared at Den Jys ...

, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Ewa Podles,

Irina Arkhipova Irina Konstantinovna Arkhipova (russian: Ири́на Константи́новна Архи́пова; 2 January 1925 11 February 2010, Moscow) was a Soviet and Russian mezzo-soprano, and later contralto, opera singer. She sang leading roles fi ...

, Galina Vishnevskaya, Brigitte Fassbaender, Anja Silja and

Yevgeny Nesterenko Yevgeny Yevgenievich Nesterenko (russian: Евгений Евгеньевич Нестеренко, link=no; 8 January 1938 – 20 March 2021) was a Soviet and Russian operatic bass. He made an international career, based at the Bolshoi Theatre ...

Versions by others

*1882,

Alexander Glazunov Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov; ger, Glasunow (, 10 August 1865 – 21 March 1936) was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 ...

and

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...

::The songs were first orchestrated by Glazunov (Nos. 1 and 3) and Rimsky-Korsakov (Nos. 2 and 4) shortly after Mussorgsky's death. They were published in 1882. Mussorgsky had intended to orchestrate the cycle himself but never realised the ambition. In the Glazunov/Rimsky-Korsakov orchestration, 'Trepak' is first. *1962,

Dmitri Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, , group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and was regarded throug ...

::Shostakovich orchestrated the whole cycle for the dedicatee,

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880&n ...

Galina Vishnevskaya. Seven years later, noting that he wanted to continue Mussorgsky's "too short" set of songs, he wrote his Fourteenth Symphony for soprano, bass and chamber orchestra, adding to the musical gallery of death's appearances.Volkov, Solomon, ''St. Petersburg: A Cultural History'' (New York: The Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1995), 106. The Shostakovich orchestration had a substantial influence on many of his later works, and has since been adapted for

and

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

voices. *1966 (pub.),

Samuil Feinberg Samuil Yevgenyevich Feinberg (russian: Самуи́л Евге́ньевич Фе́йнберг, also Samuel; 26 May 1890, Odessa – 22 October 1962, Moscow) was a Russian and Soviet composer and pianist. Biography Born in Odessa, Feinberg ...

::Serenade transcribed for solo piano. *1983, Edison Denisov ::Version for bass and orchestra, premiered and recorded by

with Gennady Rozhdestvensky conducting in 1985. *1984,

Kalevi Aho Kalevi Ensio Aho (born 9 March 1949) is a Finnish composer. Early years Aho began his interest in music at the age of ten, when he discovered a mandolin in his home and began to teach himself how to play it. He soon was taken under the tutelag ...

::Version for bass and orchestra. *1994,

Ramon Lazkano Ramon Lazkano (born 26 June 1968) is a contemporary French and Spanish Basque composer of classical music. Career Born in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain, in 1968, Lazkano attended piano and composition classes at the San Sebastián Higher ...

::Version for voice and small orchestra, premiered by Dmitri Hvorostovsky with

Louis Langrée Louis Langrée (born 11 January 1961) is a French conductor. He is the son of organist and theorist Alain Langrée. One of his sisters is an amateur cellist. Biography Early years Langrée studied at the Strasbourg Conservatory, but had no fo ...

conducting in the same year. *2007,

Alexander Raskatov Alexander Mikhailovich Raskatov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Раска́тов; born 9 March 1953, in Moscow) is a Russian composer. Life Alexander Raskatovs father was a leading journalist of the magazine ''Krokodil'', h ...

::Version for bass (or tenor) and orchestra, with 3 optional interludes (''Steady Time'') between the movements; premiered by

Robert Holl Robert Holl (born 10 March 1947) is a Dutch bass-baritone classical singer. Life and career Holl was born in Rotterdam and studied at the Rotterdams Conservatorium. After winning the first prize at the 1971 International Vocal Competition 's-H ...

with

Reinbert de Leeuw Reinbert de Leeuw (8 September 1938 – 14 February 2020) was a Dutch conductor, pianist and composer. Life Lambertus Reinier de Leeuw's mother and father were both psychiatrists: Cornelis Homme 'Kees' de Leeuw (1905-1953) and Adriana Judina ...

conducting in the same year. *2012,

Peter Breiner Peter Breiner (born July 3, 1957, in Humenné, in former Czechoslovakia, present day Slovakia) is a Slovak pianist, conductor, and composer. Breiner began to play and study the piano at age four. At age nine, he started to study at the Conser ...

::Version for orchestra only, recorded by him and the

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Wellington, New Zealand. The national orchestra of New Zealand, the NZSO is an autonomous Crown entity owned by the Government of New Zealand, per the New Zealand Sympho ...

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best abr ...

References

External links

* Original libretto as well as Cyrillic option, and English/French translatio
found here
* {{Authority control Song cycles by Modest Mussorgsky Death in music 1875 compositions 1877 compositions Classical song cycles in Russian