Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (22 March (O.S. 9 March) 1839 – 29 March (O.S. 16 March) 1881) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as “Mighty Handful“. He was an innovator of Russian music in the realitic period. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, always in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music. Many of his composition were inspired by Russian history, Russian folklore and other themes of Russian culture. Such works include the opera “Boris Godunov“, the orchestral tone poem “Night on Bald Mountain“ and the piano suite “Pictures at an Exhibition“.