Modest Mussorgsky (1839, Russia - 1881, Russia) was a member of “The Five”- a group of Russian nationalist composers in the Romantic period. Together, they went against traditions and established conventions of Western music, striving to create a nationalist Russian school of music. Mussorgsky was an innovator, finding inspiration in Russian history, folklore, and other nationalist themes. 

He was a talented child, originally learning piano from his mother, then from Anton Gerke, at the Petrischule (St Peter’s School), leading him to compose his first piece in 1952. Continuing to play and compose in his free time, he joined cadet school at 13, following family traditions. After two years with the foremost regiment of the Russian Imperial Guard, he resigned from his commission to pursue music full-heartedly. He found a career in the government as a civil servant to support himself. Afflicted by alcoholism all through his life, Mussorgsky was dismissed from his position in 1880, and died a year later, leaving an array of pieces, some unfinished. This led to his oeuvre being mainly known in revised versions, or completed by other composers, only coming into his own when the original scores were shared in 1928.