Modest Mussorgsky

Mussorgsky, Modest (1839–81), Russian composer, one of the first to develop a style around characteristically Russian idioms. His Boris Gudonov (1874) is one of the finest Russian operas. Other major works include Night on Bald Mountain (1860–66), the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition (1874), later orchestrated by Maurice Ravel; and the song cycle Songs and Dances of Death (1875–77).