Monday, June 30, 2014

Night on Bald Mountain

Do you remember these scary images from your youth?


Mussorgsky's (1839-81) Night on Bald Mountain was actually titled St. John’s Night on the Bare Mountain.

St. John’s Night, or St. John’s Eve, is the night before the Feast of St. John which happens to fall around the summer solstice. Eastern Europeans have long celebrated it with a mixture of pagan trick-or-treat traditions and religious observances and bonfires.

The first version appeared in 1867 and was revised around 1872 and again in 1880. In this last version he added a hauntingly beautiful quiet ending in which a church bell announces the dawn and daybreak chases away the evil spirit.

Night on Bald Mountain has remained an audience favorite ever since its appearance in Walt Disney’s landmark movie, Fantasia.



June 23:  Happy Midsummer’s Eve!   Happy St. John’s Eve!   Happy St. John’s Night!


June 24:  Happy Saint John’s Birth Day!   Happy St. John’s Feast Day!


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