The Mussorgsky family hailed from a Russian city called Karevo, which is located between St. Petersburg and Moscow. They were wealthy nobles who traced their roots back to the tenth century. Modest's musical gifts were nurtured by his mother, who was a pianist. As money was no problem, he attended an elite German school in St. Petersburg, some 250 miles north of his hometown, from the age of ten. Because the family enjoyed a long military history, Modest was inducted into the Cadet School of the Guards at 13. When he graduated, four years later, he got to know Alexander Borodin who became a distinguished composer in his own right but, who at that time was also a Guards officer assigned to the St. Petersburg Military Hospital. He was five years Modest's senior and described the younger man as always immaculately dressed with perfect manners. Two years into his military career, Mussorgsky met and began to study under Mily Balakirev, quitting the military to do so. While his musical gifts were developing, his life was starting a downward spiral culminating in death at the age of 42. He was already drinking to excess when the 1860 Emancipation of Serfs impoverished his family. He managed to land a low paying job in the civil service and moved into a commune with five other men. Five years into this "riches to rags" existence, his mother died. Although he was to live another 15 years, for the most part, Mussorgsky was unable to overcome depression, and alcohol took over his life. The architect and painter, Viktor Hartmann was Mussorgsky's closest friend. He died suddenly in 1874. Pictures at an Exhibition were composed that year in Hartmann’s memory.

Program notes by A. Ian Fraser