Night on
Bald Mountain
Do you remember this scary
music from the Walt Disney movie Fantasia?
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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