Editing Modest Mussorgsky (section)

==Reputation==
Contemporary opinions of Mussorgsky as a composer and person varied from positive to ambiguous to negative. Mussorgsky's eventual supporters, [[Vladimir Stasov]] and [[Mily Balakirev]], initially registered strongly negative impressions of the composer. Stasov wrote to Balakirev, in an 1863 letter, "I have no use for Mussorgsky. His views may tally with mine, but I have never heard him express an intelligent idea. All in him is flabby, dull. He is, it seems to me, a thorough idiot", and Balakirev agreed: "Yes, Mussorgsky is little short of an idiot."<ref name=Calvocoressi>Calvocoressi (1934: p. 6).</ref>

Mixed impressions are recorded by [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov|Rimsky-Korsakov]] and [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]], colleagues of Mussorgsky who, unlike him, made their living as composers. Both praised his talent while expressing disappointment with his technique. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote that Mussorgsky's scores included:

{{quote|absurd, disconnected harmony, ugly [[part-writing]], sometimes strikingly illogical [[Modulation (music)|modulation]], sometimes a depressing lack of it, unsuccessful [[Orchestration|scoring]] of orchestral things... what was needed at the moment was an edition for performance, for practical artistic aims, for familiarization with his enormous talent, not for the study of his personality and artistic transgressions.<ref>Brown and Abraham (1997: p. 125).</ref>}}
While preparing an edition of ''[[The Fair at Sorochyntsi|Sorochintsï Fair]]'', [[Anatoly Lyadov]] remarked: "It is easy enough to correct Mussorgsky's irregularities. The only trouble is that when this is done, the character and originality of the music are done away with, and the composer's individuality vanishes."<ref>Calvocoressi (1956: p. 219)</ref>

Tchaikovsky, in a letter to his patroness [[Nadezhda von Meck]], was also critical of Mussorgsky:

{{quote|Mussorgsky you very rightly call a hopeless case. In talent he is perhaps superior to all the [other members of [[The Five (composers)|The Five]]], but his nature is narrow-minded, devoid of any urge towards self-perfection, blindly believing in the ridiculous theories of his circle and in his own genius. In addition, he has a certain base side to his nature which likes coarseness, uncouthness, roughness. He flaunts his illiteracy, takes pride in his ignorance, mucks along anyhow, blindly believing in the infallibility of his genius. Yet he has flashes of talent which are, moreover, not devoid of originality.<ref>Brown (2010: p. 212).</ref>}}
Western perceptions of Mussorgsky changed with the European premiere of ''[[Boris Godunov (opera)|Boris Godunov]]'' in 1908. Before the premiere, he was regarded as an eccentric in the West. Critic [[Edward Dannreuther]], wrote, in the 1905 edition of ''The Oxford History of Music'', "Mussorgsky, in his vocal efforts, appears wilfully eccentric. His style impresses the Western ear as barbarously ugly."<ref>Calvocoressi (1956: p. 224)</ref> However, after the premiere, views on Mussorgsky's music changed drastically. [[Gerald Abraham]], a musicologist, and an authority on Mussorgsky: "As a musical translator of words and all that can be expressed in words, of psychological states, and even physical movement, he is unsurpassed; as an absolute musician he was hopelessly limited, with remarkably little ability to construct pure music or even a purely musical texture."<ref>{{Cite book|title = Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 5: L–M|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=WrdYewAACAAJ|publisher = Macmillan|date = 1954-01-01|isbn = 978-0-333-19178-1|first = George|last = Grove}}</ref>