it into closer relation with actual life.
[Footnote 321: For biographical information consult the volume
by Montagu-Nathan.]
“In order to understand Moussorgsky’s work and his attitude
towards art, it is necessary to realise the social conditions under
which he lived. He was a true child of the sixties, of that period
of moral and intellectual ferment which followed the accession
of Alexander II and the emancipation of the serfs. Of the lit-
tle group of composers then striving to give musical expression
to their newly awakened nationality, none was so entirely car-
ried away by the literary and political movements of the time
as Moussorgsky. Every man was asking himself and his com-
rades the question posed by the most popular novel of the day:
‘What shall we do?’ The answer was: ’Throw aside social and
artistic conventions. Make art the hand-maiden of humanity.
Seek not for beauty but for truth. Go to the people. Hold out
the hand of fellowship to the liberated masses and learn from
them the true purpose of life.’ To this democratic and util-
itarian spirit, to this deep compassion for the people, to this
contempt for the dandyism and dilettantism of an earlier gen-
eration Moussorgsky strove to give expression in his music, as
Perov expressed it in painting, as Tchernichevsky, Dostoyevsky,
and Tolstoi expressed it in fiction. We may disagree with his
aesthetic principles, but we must confess that he carried out
with logical sequence and conviction a considerable portion of
his programme. In his sincere efforts to attain great ends he un-
doubtedly overlooked the means. He could never submit to the
discipline of a thorough musical training as Tchaikowsky and
Rimsky-Korsakoff. He preserved his originality intact, but at a
heavy cost. The weakness of his technique has been exagger-
ated by those who put down all his peculiarities to ignorance;
but in some respects—particularly as regards orchestration—his
craftsmanship was certainly unequal to the demands of his in-
spiration, for his aims were very lofty. Had this been otherwise,
Moussorgsky’s name would have been more closely linked with
those of Berlioz and Richard Strauss."[322]
[Footnote 322: Quoted from the article in Grove’s Dictionary.]
His acknowledged masterpieces are first, the songs, especially
the series theNurseryand theSongs and Dances of Death, in
which we see mirrored with extraordinary fidelity the complex