Voted BEST Retirement Community by the Baltimore Sun Six Years in a row!
up with a second, played here, which has grown to be the more popular of the two.
Instrumentation: Two flutes( second doubling piccolo), alto flute, piccolo, two oboes, English horn, two clarinets, bass clarinet, E-flat clarinet, three bassoons, contrabassoon, four horns, four trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, glockenspiel, military drum, tambourine, castanets, snare drum, triangle, cymbals, suspended cymbal, two harps, celesta, and strings.
Modest Musorgsky
Born March 21, 1839, in Karevo, Russia Died March 28, 1881, in St. Petersburg, Russia
NIGHT ON BALD MOUNTAIN [ 1866-67 ]
Midsummer Night has seen quite some carrying-on in Slavic lands. Pre-Christian Ukrainians celebrated it as a fertility festival that, if it succeeded in satisfying the god Kupalo, would assure a good harvest a few months later. When the Christian Church arrived, it tried to eradicate pagan festivals of this sort; but in this case, it ended up allowing the solstice frolics to be subsumed into another feast it was trying to promote anyway, the Feast of the Nativity of St. John( Ivan) the Baptist, which fell about then in the church calendar. The occasion was generally joyous but it had an ominous underbelly. On that night, water nymphs lured the unwary to their deaths in lakes and rivers, and frightening supernatural beings cavorted about the forests. Much activity centered on the so-called Bald Mountain, where demons gathered in orgiastic frenzy, with their leader, the satanic Chernobog, often taking the form of a black goat.
In early Autumn 1860, the 21-yearold Modest Musorgsky wrote to his mentor, the composer Mily Balakirev:“ I have received an extremely interesting commission, which I must prepare for next summer. It is this: a whole act to take place on Bald Mountain …
FOCUS on what you enjoy.
Now’ s your time to enjoy it all. In our diverse and inviting Life Plan community, surround yourself with people you’ ll like and social opportunities you’ ll love. Settle into a home amongst nature, supported by a continuum of care for every age and ability. At Broadmead, you’ ll be able to focus on a lifestyle you truly enjoy!
Broadmead. org Request your free Broadmead Planning Kit! information @ broadmead. org
Timeless
CELEBRATING 60 YEARS OF CHORAL INNOVATION
VOICES
Christmas with Choral Arts
TUESDAY, DEC 2, 2025 | 7:30 PM | BALTIMORE BASILICA BaltimoreChoralArts. org or call( 410) 523-7070
NOV-DEC 2025 | OVERTURE | 17