Another member of “The Mighty Five”, MODEST MUSSORGSKY is perhaps the most extraordinary creative personality of his generation. His innovative explorations in harmony, colour, vocal style (the operas Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, the song cycles Sunless, Songs and Dances of Death, the symphonic work Night on Bald Mountain) and vivid imagery attracted the attention of Debussy, who even considered him one of the forerunners of Impressionism. Having renounced the privileges of his noble background, Mussorgsky devoted himself entirely to his vocation as a composer, but he lived too bohemian a life and died early, leaving most of his works unfinished or only in rough sketches. The noble mission of completing and publishing the legacy of his friend and collaborator was undertaken by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, thanks to whom Mussorgsky’s works not only reached audiences but also made lasting contributions to the world operatic and symphonic repertoire as highlights of nineteenth-century Russian music.