Songs and Dances of Death

Modest Mussorgsky - "Russian Songs from 'Songs and Dances' of Death" (1978) - Summit

Hello Friends,

October's here.  Days are shorter, leaves are changing and we're classing the place up with some Russian songs and dances of death courtesy of one of our favorite Russian composers, Modesto Mussorgsky.  

Mussorgsky (1839 - 1881) was one of five important composers from the mid-19th Century whose work focused on themes unique to Mother Russia and who often turned to Russian folklore for inspiration. Late in his career and deep in the throes of alcoholism, he would compose his "Songs and Dances of Death" song cycle, one of his last important works. 

Written for piano and voice (usually a bass or baritone), the song cycle is comprised of 4 compositions with macabre lyrics based on really dark poems by a friend of the composer, Count Arseny Golenischev-Kutuzov.  

On this particular record the piano duties are handled by Giorgio Favaretto and the bass vocals by Nicolo Rossi-Lemini, two very distinct, non-Russian names!

Obviously these songs are sung in operatic Russian. But a quick look at the English translations reveal some of the best death lyrics ever written:

A child is groaning...  A candle, burning out,
Dimly flickers onto surroundings.
The whole night, rocking the cradle, 
A mother has not dozed away with sleep...

Magical languor, blue night,
Trembling darkness of spring.
The sick girl takes in, with her head dropped, 
The whisper of the night's silence...

Your body is tender, your trembling is ravishing...
Oh, I'll suffocate you 
in my strong embraces: listen to my seductive 
chatter! ... be silent!... You are mine!"...

Forest and glades, no one is around. 
A snow-storm is crying and groaning,
It feels as in the gloom of the night
The Evil One is burying someone...

The battle is thundering, the armour is shining, 
Copper cannons are roaring, 
The troops are running, the horses are rushing
And red rivers are flowing.
The midday is blazing -- people are fighting, 
The sun is declining -- the fight is stronger, 
The sunset is fading away -- but the enemies
Are still battling more fierce and hateful.
And night has fallen on the battlefield.

(Complete translation text here.)...   \m/

In a nutshell, Trepak takes place on a bleak and snowy night when death comes along and begins dancing with drunken peasants.  Death tempts the revelers into eternal sleep with thoughts of Summer, warmth and contentment.

Lullaby is being sung by a mother to her dying child while in Serenade a young ailing girl is being serenaded by a seductive Death who sings outside of her window.

The fourth and final piece of the song-cycle is The Field-Marshall (or The General) in which Death assumes the guise of a General overlooking the slaughter on the day's battlefield with a certain grim satisfaction.  In tribute to the fallen, Death will conduct a dance of death over their bones at midnight!  Weird shit! 

Because the song-cycle only occupies about 20 minutes (or a single album side) of space, this LP is rounded out with some of Mussorgky's shorter vocal works including, Song of the Flea, Where Are You Little Star, The Grave, The Seminarist & The Old Man's Song.

All are pretty good, but we really like the Death stuff!

In our experience, cold nights, warm, flowing drinks, Russians and the spectre of death all seem to go pretty hand-in-hand, so this album is going to be a favorite on our October turntable! NOSTROVIA!

RATING: 4 Evil Ones Burying Someone out of 5