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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