Talk:List of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky

Style

A reader flagged my list for "grammar, spelling, style, tone, consistency...", etc. (all of which are fine, and in no need of repair). He was irritated that the English titles of the works are given second. "English first, Cyrillic second, if at all" was the remark. "IF AT ALL!" Now why would one question the importance of giving the original title of a work of art. The titles given by the composer to his works are at least as important as those we give them. More to the point, the Debussy, Verdi, and Puccini works lists (to cite just a few) do not even bother to supply English translations as I have done here, yet no one flags those pages for "grammar, consistency, spelling" etc. This is a chauvinistic attitude. Ok, so Cyrillic letters are meaningless to many readers. The ones that are likely to seriously peruse this page will not mind much (I hope) and many will be more grateful that someone spent hours of work providing this important information. Please don't leave comments about "Wikipedia Policy". I've heard it before. Ivan Velikii 01:09, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

Please consider changing the style of this page to a useful one. A good example is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_Anton%C3%ADn_Dvo%C5%99%C3%A1k. Mh234 (talk) 17:29, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

I think the page is done excellently; well done.

Questions

Well done! I have few questions, though: 1) As far as I'm aware of, Oedipus in Athens was not intended to be an opera but rather an incidental music, like Peer Gynt, and only one number has survived (so it may be included as a choral work). 2) Wasn't Mlada a collaborative work? (Shouldn't it be mentioned if so?) 3) Isn't the symphony lost also? 4) On the Southern Shore of the Crimea is, I believe, not a suite at all, but the name of the first number and the capriccio is called Close to the Southern Shore of the Crimea, or vice versa. isn't it? 5) Can you, please, add some details about transcriptions?

Its nice to know somebody actually reads this page. First I have to say that I composed this list from the book by Calvocoressi, which was published back in 1956. All my other Musorgsky books are in storage and inaccessible, including the Master Musicians book by Calvocoressi and Abraham, which has been reissued with a new works list, and the Grove Russian Composers set which has a comprehensive works list also. Both of these works lists are newer than the one I working from here. I hope to update the list when I can access my other books. You are welcome to do so if you have an authoritative source. Maybe you are correct about Oedipus (my list calls it Oedipus Rex like many others that base it on Sophocles). The excerpt would still belong under Stage Works as it is an unfinished fragment of a larger work. I suppose it could only be classed a choral work if the composer published it separately, or made mention of it as a choral work. Yes, Mlada is a collaborative work. If anyone follows the link I placed there, they will learn that and much more. I didn't bother to mention it because I am meticulous about the list and thought an extended explanation would mar the appearance. Perhaps the symphony is lost, my list does not confirm this point. A newer list might. You are probably correct about the "Crimean" pair of piano pieces. I have two sets of recordings of Musorgsky's "complete piano works", but alas, they are also in storage. This page http://culture.pskov.ru/ru/persons/object/5 seems to confirm your theory. The other piece (the capriccio) is called "БЛИЗ ЮЖНОГО БЕРЕГА КРЫМА" according to this site. Lastly, I regret that I cannot provide any more information on the transciptions until I retrieve my other books. Thank you for taking the time to critique my page. It was a big chore just to match the Russian titles with the book list, which is only in English. I look forward to correcting my work in the future, but I cannot at this time. Ivan Velikii 04:37, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

The only composed number of Oedipus in Athens, the choir of the people in the temple, was published and performed as an independent work in 1861 during the composer's lifetime. He was probably satisfied with it since he subsequently adapted it to be included as a number in Salammbo. 79.183.108.209 (talk) 14:39, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

Chronological order

The current list is great, but I think the addition of a chronological catalogue would be of help also to those wishing to catalogue their own Mussorgsky collections or for just the sake of being able to distinguish between the dates of two or more compositions quickly. His work has not been catalogued in Opus number or that of a scholar, but many books do include a chronological listing of his pieces. Their may be some additions towards the current list also that could be made from different sources.

The list I plan to make will be along the lines of that which has been used for G. F. Handel's works on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_George_Frideric_Handel. In terms of the premier and venue dates, I am not sure where this particular information but AMG appears to include dates for many of his works. A quick book search should find the venues where the pieces were premiered.

Along with the chronological order (which is already provided) it would be nice if it included the date of publication of each work, since not all of the works have been published during the composer's lifetime, and for those who are interested in Mussorgsky's influence on other composers it can be very useful. AdamChapman (talk) 19:59, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

Formatting

Jack, I reverted your edits because...

1. The page no longer fits in my browser. Some editors don't have the luxury of 21" monitors.
2. This is a sortable list. Your naming convention messes up the alphabetical sorting of my list! If anyone really wants to know Pushkin's first name, they can click on it.

I did, however, increase the cell height to 1.5 to avoid the "squashed" appearance, and increased width to 70em.

Fair enough. -- JackofOz (talk) 02:22, 29 November 2009 (UTC)