Somehow I had always thought these were juvenilia. Never bothered to check the date ! They are from 1879 and 1880, not long before his death. Not great music on a par with the Pictures, but still charming and quaint, and hopefully worth a listen.

Mussorgsky - On the Southern Shore of the Crimea (5:22)
Mussorgsky - Close to the Southern Shore of the Crimea (4:27)
Mussorgsky - Meditation (5:10)
Mussorgsky - Une Larme (4:11)
Mussorgsky - Au Village (3:49)

New to my ears but charming pieces. Easy to listen to and understand. Is it a cycle or just an extract of different late life music by Mussorgsky?

You play them perfect and I did not hear any flaws at all. How do you do that? The music doesn't sound difficult but still...I have a feeling that you didn't spend much time preparing these did you? Even though you are a very good score reader, it takes a tremendous amount of concentration to not make any slips, misinterpretations, errors in dynamics and get musical value out of it. I will never stop being impressed by your skills!

Thanks Robert. AFAIK these don't belong to a cycle, I don't think they are related in any way.

I had not looked at these for decades and two of them I've only played for the first time last week or so. Indeed they are not very demanding and I did not want to spend all too much time on them, so each of these has a number of editing cuts as usual. I guess that is the secret behind producing a lot of recordings

Have to learn to do that properly . I am working on something new now, not up on the site already and a re-recording on something that is. I hope I can get it down to recordings next weekend or something.

Hi Chris,

I had a listen to your recordings by Mussorgsky. They sound nice. I haven’t heard these. I agree, they have a quaint and charming quality to them.

“on the southern shore of crimea” through your phrasing I think you have managed to make them sound stately. Dynamics were not bad either.

About number two it starts out uptempo but after about a minute it sounds like “on the southern” all over again. Though it is called “close to the southern.” I guess it is close to that piece... too close! Maybe this was a pun that Mussorgsky intended.

About the “Meditation” I think you managed to sound brooding. Like a meditation, so I think you have achieved the effect of a meditation in the piece with th repeating middle section that ends in the major key and twice repeating beginning theme.

About the une larme, which I do not know what it means in English. Sounds melancholy and down tempo. The piece seems to follow the same format as the “meditation” and I would argue it is similar in more than just the form. Though it was still fun to listen to.

About the “au village” (I assume means “a village”) This piece was really fun to listen to . It seems to start out like a chorale following voice leading rules, then morphs into something different.. I think this is the first piece of this set to feature sixteenth notes if I am imagining the score correctly.

I agree these pieces are not as good as “pictures” but I did enjoy listening to them. For criticism, I would say try playing these pieces with even more range in dynamics.

edit: grammar revision

Riley

Thanks for your feedback Riley ! I agree that the two 'Crimea' pieces are a bit too similar, and one of them (the second, IMO) would have been enough.
Une Larme means A Tear, this is probably Mussorgky's most popular piece after the Pictures. By all means sample Monica's excellent recording of it.

Oh no, don't do that!! This one is on my 're-do' list.
Chris, yours is very nice. Perhaps you hold out the opening chords a little too long for my taste, but that's of course very subjective.

I thought yours was very nice too. Can't really imagine why you'd want to redo it.

Hi Chris,

Other than "Pictures", this is the only other Mussorgsky piano music I can ever recall hearing. These character pieces are very pleasant and you drew a good selection offering some contrasts, except for the two Crimea pieces. It's good to hear unusual music like this group, and you played these pieces convincingly.

David

Hi Chris,
I knew some of these pieces, but haven´t played them myself yet. Bravo to your performance, which seems quite perfect to me. For me especially the two first pieces have a special russian character, haven´t they? You demonstrate a clear and understandable interpretation. I have enjoyed it.

Thanks David and Andreas ! These are not great pieces by any stretch, but nice enough and worth the occasional airing, as they say

Nicely played Chris, but the Mussorgsky doesn't break any new ground here. His Pictures show much more development and originality, however Au Village was the most interesting, and you played it well. When it comes to piano music, for me at least, Mussorgsky is a "one hit wonder."

Absolutely. Though not all music needs to break new grounds, does it ? A simple song can be nice once in a while

Indeed. You see, I keep forgetting that you are the luminary Ambassador to the DGLKM -- Discovery Group of Lesser Known Music.

Ah yes, that's me alright. Leave the masterworks to those with talent and good taste