Linear Designs in Musorgsky’s Music

Th e study presents a structural analysis of Modest Petrovich Musorgsky's output. Th e songs are studied in detail as well as the extensive musical dramatic works. Th e fi ndings of Musorgsky’s compositional style are given in the context of wider contemporary musical tendencies. Linearita v díle Modesta Petroviče Musorgského


Linear Designs in Musorgsky's Music Nors S. Josephson
Already Musorgsky's earliest songs demonstrate the Russian composer's skill in setting up linear matrices. Th us Where art thou (1857) 1 outlines the vacillating modal centers of f K (tonic)-b-a-(bK)-cK-fK.
Example 1: Where art thou (1857) Particularly striking is the emphatic stress accorded the plagal b, or fK:iv, which twice resolves to the upper cK 1 and is actually accented more decisively than the tonic itself.
Some subsequent songs from the early years, 1859-1863, develop analogous bass patterns into chaconne-like tetrachords. Already Sadly rustled the leaves (1859) highlights a descending, modally tinged bass line, bL-aL-gL-f-eL. Th e latter is extended downwardly to a more tonal DL-major (bass, measures 33-37) and transferred to the vocal line itself (39-45) in a manner reminiscent of Schumann's songs. 2 A similar tetrachordal stress is seen in the romance, What are words of love (1860), with its bass progression, d-c-b-bL-a. Here, too, this chaconne progression increasingly penetrates the upper regions of the piano's bass and the later episodes of the vocal line itself: Example 2: Chaconne-type progressions in vocal and piano lines of What are words of love (1860) In Musorgsky's later so ngs chromatically descending bass lines are occasionally inserted for special eff ect, as in the Koltsov setting, I have many palaces and gardens (1863). Here the poem's realistic theme -namely, the nobleman's wealth as opposed to his spiritual wretchedness -is portrayed by recurring descending bass progressions on gK-g-fK (or B-major:Lvi-V) in mm. 28-29, 34-36 and 41-43. Furthermore, Musorgsky also uses similar descending (and chromatically tinged) harmonic spirals in his later song cycles, Th e Peepshow (1870: EL-E-D-C-EL) and Sunless (1874: D/EL-C-B-cK).
In addition, several of Musorgsky's realistic songs from the years 1866-1867 utilize bass lines with developmental minor/major second intervals, beginning with the lively Gopak (August 31, 1866). Th is composition is centered on a static upper fK pedal with supporting chromatic lines that accentuate fK's tritone, C: Cf. his earlier Kalistratushka (1864):

Example 3: Gopak (1866): Linear movements
Gopak's companion song, Th e Seminarist (September 27, 1866) likewise sets up two (!) pedals on F and its dominant C, with two superimposed minor second cells on aL-g and c-dL (later transmuted to c 1 ). Likewise, Darling Savishna (September 2, 1866) presents a crystal-clear C-major alternating with a more modal c-minor. Here again, Musorgsky superimposes parlando-style second intervals on c-d-e, g-a/aL-bL and g-aL. A later, more advanced version of this static patter idiom is encountered in Th e Ragamuffi n (December 19, 1867) with its second ostinatos on d-e, f-g and a-b. Th ese are later metamorphosized into more symphonic developments on AL and cK -more distantly related keys that again (cf. Gopak and Th e Seminarist) stress the tritone and semitone intervals. A more static metamorphosis of these omnipresent minor second cells is encountered in Th e He-Goat (December 23, 1867). Here both the he-goat and the innocent young girl feature related vocal lines around cK-e-d/dK. Moreover, the piano accompaniment continually vacillates around the minor seconds, bK-cK (the goat) or e-f-fK-f (girl), so that she is almost seen as the former's mirror image. Th is impressive intervallic cohesion -one reminiscent of earlier classical masters -rivals that of Darling Savishna and must have endeared the work to Musorgsky's composer-friend Borodin, to whom the song is dedicated. Th ese static minor seconds of Th e He-Goat are later further developed in Night on Bald Mountain and Boris Godunov (A-GK-BL-GK motive) as well as Chovanščina (C-major chorus in Act I, mm. 657-715). Similar static designs over pentatonic, freely modal foundations had already appeared in Musorgsky's Old Man's Song (1863, after Goethe's Wilhelm Meister), with its prominent harmonic polarities on EL, DL and the plagal AL. One is also reminded of the impressionistic piano composition Duma (Revery) of 1865 (after a theme by Loginov), with its suspenseful oscillations between EL, AL and DL.
In two further songs of April, 1868 -Child 's Song and With Nurse -Musorgsky extends these static, semitonal dimensions. Child's Song sets up a recurring sixth chord on d-e-gK-b that is often transmuted into CK-sonorities over a bass semitone on d-cK. In With Nurse the tertial intervals between bL-gL/g-eL and the parallel passage, dL-bL are linked by smooth second intervals, bL-a-g in 13-19 and dL/ cK-c-bL in 28-41/42-53.
Simultaneously with these modernistic techniques -germ cells comprised of minor seconds and thirds that are linked by linear basses -Musorgsky's mature songs of 1863-1868 also assimilate certain Romantic stylistic features, notably Berliozian motivic metamorphoses and Lisztian apotheoses. Already his symphonic romance, But if I could meet thee again (August 15, 1863) transforms the opening, rather Schumannesque motto (one thinks of Dichterliebe, no. 1): Even more Lisztian appears the fi nal apotheosis in King Saul, mm. 76-84, as Saul awaits either victorious battle glory or heroic death: Example 7: Apotheosis in King Saul (1863) Of special interest is the evocative, coda-like close ( in measures 54-65) of Musorgsky's Prayer (after Lermontov, dated February 2, 1865 and dedicated to his beloved mother). Th is fade-out ending expands the introductory measures 1-12 (loosely based on bL-minor) and the transitional measures 35-37 (the latter founded on an oscillating D/EL chordal squence) into a highly poetic prayer to protect the deceased: Example 8: Slowly disintegra ng coda in Prayer (1865) Musorgsky's second expressive song from the year 1865 -the Cradle Song after Ostrovsky -is likewise dedicated to the memory of his mother. Here, too, the evocative coda in measures 42-58 -beginning on fl oating CL Neapolitan harmonies -transforms the introductory rocking fi gures into ascending and truly heavenly progressions: Example 9: Closing heavenly progressions in Cradle Song (original version, 1865, piano) Musorgsky's fi ne setting of Pushkin's ecstatically Romantic poem Night (initial version, 1864) is an excellent example of another favorite Musorgskian device -that of harmonic intensifi cation. Here the last two sections provide cumulative Neapolitan (or LII) progressions from (tonic) fK: I-V (CK-major) to the upper semitones on D and fi nally EL. Th is modal E fl at is eventually reinterpreted as dK, or fK's submediant/relative minor: Example 10: Cumula ve, climac c semitonal layers in original version of Night (1864) Together with these modernistic, semitonal techniques and Romantic apotheosis-syntheses, Musorgsky also developed new kinds of cyclical farge forms in his three operas from the 1860's. Already Salambo (1863-1866) displays an impressive modulatory groundplan based on circular fi fths: Th ese interrelated tonal levels all outline a circular fi fth spiral around DK/ EL-AL-DL. Th e eventual tonic DL receives a subdominantal FK-axis in Acts II, 151; III, 380+504 and IV: ii, 84-86. Th is FK is defl ected downwardly to FJ at the dramatic close of Act II, which can also be heard as the mediant of DL's triad or even as a momentary tonal substitute for DL itself. F is also employed as an introductory tragic storm key in III, 187 and for Mato's death imprisonment at the outset of IV. Th e other principal subsidiary key of B-major is used as a lyrically contrasting level in I and II, 13+237, where it can be heard as DL:LVII, or a modal fl atted seventh of the DL tonic -related to the DL 7 harmonies so prevalent in II, 87-90+150.
In 1868 Musorgsky composed a one-act opera for four vocal soloists and piano accompaniment based on Gogol's play Th e Marriage. Th is work is notable for its vigorous speech rhythms and declamatory incisiveness, which directly presage those of Janáček's operas Th e Cunning Little Vixen (1924) and From the House of the Dead (1928). Once again, our Russian composer sets up a comprehensive pitch matrix, whose descending thirds on C-A/a-F-G-C recall Musorgsky's equally radical, declamatory song With Nurse of April, 1868: In addition to this general tonal outline, Musorgsky devotes many subtle details to the dramatic interrelationships between his four characters. In particular, his main character of Podkoliosin is often linked tonally to his friend Kochkarev's subdominantal F-major. Already scene i often presents Podkoliosin's indolent theme in f-minor, as in mm. 118-119 and again in 176-178 (when he complains about the irksome marriage preparations). Likewise, the match-maker Fiokla often fuses Kochkarev's F-tonality with her own third-related A-major/minor, as at her entry in scene ii, measures 1-3 and again at the outset of her dowry narrative in ii, 36-48 (A-F modulation). It will be noted, of course, that Fiokla also acted as match-maker to Kochkarev himself, who is unhappily married and frequently reacts angrily to her. In scene iv, 39-69 Musorgsky also manages to modulate Kochkarev's vision of a voluptuous beauty from Fiokla's A-major via Musorgskian circle-of-fi fths back to D-G-C-F. Th is progression eventually aff ects a tonal reprise of Podkoliosin's/ Kochkarev's opening C-and F-major.
In his operatic masterpiece Boris Godunov (1868-1872) Musorgsky sets up a recurring circular cycle -one familiar from Salambo -around CK-FK-AL-cK that is especially prevalent in the prologue, scene i and Act IV, scene i (: Boris' death). Th ese three pitch centers may be viewed as a kind of Classical progression from tonic to subdominant and dominant. Indeed, the fi nal plagal resolution from FK to CK/DL in both scenes is markedly similar.
A comparable cK-fK axis is also evident at the close of Act I, scene i, with the fi nal monks' chorus in fK-minor, mm. 355-365 and Grigorij's emphatic pronouncement that Boris will not escape God's judgment. Much the same is true of Varlaam's Kazan song (as Dargomyzhsky quote!) in Act I, scene ii (stated in cK and fK minor, respectively). A complementary progression around AL-DL is also introduced for Pimen's narrative of the past Czars, notably the account of Feodor's mystical passing in Act I, mm. 224-232. In the Inn Scene CK is also sporadically employed when the police-offi cer tares at Vaarlam ("… pristal'no smotriš … ", 370-375) and fi nally at the dramatic moment when Grigorij/ Dimitrij jumps through the window to safety in mm. 474-475. In both instances CK appears to radiate a higher power that is related to the subliminal DL/CK tonal foundation.
In turn, the dominant key of A fl at is frequently buttressed by its own secondary minor dominant of eL, as in the prologue, scene i, during Ščelkalov's halfcadence on EL, 218-226, preceding the pilgrims' AL chanting in 227-284. An analogous progression on EL-AL is also present in the ensuing Coronation Scene, 122-131, when Boris implores God to grant him spiritual and political guidance. In addition, eL-minor is especially signifi cant in the (Kremlin) Act II for the nurse's Gnat Song and Boris' hallucination, thus helping to set up the fi nal, fateful circle-of-fi fths around eL-aL/AL-CK/DL in Boris' death scene (Act IV). 3 Th e fact that EL is normally notated as eL-minor lends the following AL a wavering modal quality (with an implied GL, or AL:LVII) that directly strengthens the fi nal plagal cadences on fK -CK/DL in scene i (prologue) and IV:i.
In this connection it is noteworthy that the initial (1869) version of the Kremlin Act II also emphatically links the enharmonic gK (ab) minor cadences of the interior measures 132-133f. to the fi fths-related progressions on CK/FK, as in 140-143, 178-182, 189-197 (children's motive) and 200-205. Moreover, analogous circular progressions around cK-gK/fK punctuate the closing Act II scene (original version) in 344-456 (ending on gK). In contrast, the fi nal Act II version off sets its principal axis on eL-aL with milder, song-like passages, as the parrot song in 512f. and the tale of the murdered Dimitrij in 742f. on fK/FK. Th e latter are plagally linked to the eventual tonic DL/CK. In order to integrate these dramatic, lyrical interludes within the fi nal Act II structure, Musorgsky inserts repeated semitonal thrusts from G to AL, as at the close of the G-major dance song coupled with Boris' agitated entry in measures 316/317. Similarly, Xenia's fl owing G-major music in 334 is later transposed to AL at 406f. In like vein, the rising passages from (C-)D to EL in 621-643 fi nally attain the more stable EL in 635-639 and 683: a progression already forecast in Act I:ii, 118-120+394-395.
Boris' death scene in Act IV:i -which is based on the main climaxes in Salambo IV: 4 -summarizes many of these intervallic tendencies. Musorgsky here sets up a basic matrix around eL-aL-DL-dJ (Šuiskij)/eL-aL-c (Boris' summons)-D (Pimen's tale)-eL-AL (cf. Xenia's music from Act II)-DL. Musorgsky's incorporation of the Coronation Scene's oscillating seventh/sixth chords plus the reiterative minor third intonations from the prologue, scene one lend this impressive concluding scene an aura of dramatic inevitability.
In contrast, the two "peoples" scenes in Acts I:ii and IV (St. Basil/Kromy) stress the higher Neapolitan degrees of d-minor and a-minor, recalling the confl icting C/DL planes in Marriage. Here, too, Boris' upper Neapolitan degrees of A and D -representing the Russian people -are inherently unstable, eventually resolving to the more emphatic, "aristocratic" and spiritual realms of DL/CK, notably at the close of I:i, beginning of I:ii and the end of IV:i.
If the fi nal version of the Kremlin Act II still generally upholds its basic matrix on BL-EL-AL, the same is true of the later Polish Act III (composed in 1871). Th e latter's prevalent third cycles on G (Polish girls' chorus)-e/E-F (scene one) and EL-G-C-EL (scene two) recall the beginning of Act II (in both versions!), notably the gracious dance songs in eL-G and Xenia's G-major music. One is also reminded of the hostess' opening music in D-and G-major at the outset of I:ii and Dimitrij's mock-innocent pronouncement Ja gramotnyi (in G-A) at the close of I:ii, 400-401. In this fashion Musorgsky eff ectively integrates his new scenes of the fi nal Boris into the work's total compositional fabric.
We have seen that Boris Godunov represents a kind of neo-Classical milestone within his overall output. Th is is especially true of the severe, compelling architectural correspondence between the prologue, Act II and death scene in Act IV. While many of these formal symmetries derive from their related prototypes in the earlier opera Salambo (especially the latter's Act IV:i+ii), Boris blends these stylistic recalls with Schumannesque intonations and Berliozian transformations to achieve a masterful musical balance. An analogous cyclical, neo-Classical unity is also achieved in his contemporary song cycle, Th e Nursery (1868-1870), whose fi ve songs outline a similar fi fths progression aound BL-F-AL. Moreover, our composer sets up systematic structural pairs between the scherzo-like nos. 2+3 (in F) and the slow epilogue of nos. 4+5 (in AL, with similar fi fth/sixth chords). In this connection one should also mention his delightful piano composition Th e Seamstress from early 1871: a skillful essay in miniature sonata form that evokes memories of Chopin's "Minute" Waltz.
Musorgsky's ever-increasing concern for classical symmetry and structural balance reaches its peak in his piano masterpiece, Pictures from an Exhibition Musorgsky's other major cyclical work from the year 1874 -his song cycle Sunless -originally comprised seven songs, of which the ballad Forgotten was the 5 Th e reader is also referred to Michael Russ' valuable source study, Musorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition (Cambridge, Cambridge Music Handbooks, 1992), 69, where the author compares Musorgsky's pitch structures with Debussy's and Stravinsky's. Compare also Russ' excellent discussion of Pictures' tonal organization, 32-34 and his detailed treatment of the semitonal confl ict between G and F-sharp, 70-75. third piece, following In the Crowd. 6 Like Th e Nursery, Musorgsky pairs his songs 1+2 and (original) 3+4 (An End at Last to Senseless Day). In nos. 1+2 the overall harmonic groundplan proceeds as follows: Example 12: Intervallic correspondences betweeen Sunless i and ii Similarly, nos. 3+4 share prominent, oscillating third intervals that portray the mother's rocking fi gure (original no. 3) and youthful passion, respectively: Example 13: Cyclical third sequences in Sunless: 3+4 (1874) Once again, we fi nd both Stravinsky (Le Rossignol) and Debussy (Nocturnes) quoting this seminal fi gure from Sunless. Tonally speaking, Forgotten's eL-tonality may be linked to the shade's EL's in nos. 1+2, and recurs as a dark dK-minor "death" chord in no. 6 (Elegy), m. 45. Th ese subtle, oblique links between Sunless' songs reach their culminating point in the fi nal nos. 5-7, whose harmonic cycles accentuate the fi fth-related tonics of B, GK, fK and CK. 7 Here, too, the omnipresent death theme assumes universal, cosmic overtones. Not surprisingly, then that 6 Alexandra Orlova, Musorgsky's Days and Works: A Biography in Documents (Ann Arbor, UMI Research Press, 1983), 422-423 mentions that Musorgsky's original Sunless manuscript in the Russian National Library, St. Petersburg (F. 502, ed.chr.72) numbers the fi nal song nos. 1-5 as 2-6 and supplies no. 1 with a question mark. It would appear that the fi nal no. 6 (On the River) was only added at a later date. It should also be noted that the fi nal no. 2 originally had the note "No. 3. Zabytyj" -a reference to the original inclusion of the song Forgotten in the Sunless cycle. See also Evgenij Levašev (ed.), Nasledie M. P. Musorgskovo sbornnik materialov (Moscow, Muzyka, 1989), 100-101. 7 A contrary viewpoint is argued by Petra Weber-Bockholdt in Die Lieder Mussorgskijs (München, Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1982), 187, where the author states that each of Sunless' songs is an independent Musorgsky's own future fate becomes increasingly interwoven with these larger concerns. Consequently, the composer even quotes from his own autobiographical song Epitaph (also 1874) in Sunless, nos. 1+6 (Elegy).
Another prominent quotation in Sunless occurs at the outset of no. 7 (On the River), mm. 1-7, where Musorgsky directly draws on Chopin's C-sharp Nocturne, op. 27 no. 1. Moreover, the disintegrative features of On the River must also have appealed to Debussy, whose La Mer: i, mm. 35-36 and Iberia: ii, 112-123 display similar harmonies based on DL 7 and A 7 (:enharmonic augmented sixth of DL/CK). On the River may also have impacted the ending of Tchaikovsky's Sixth (Pathétique) Symphony: iv (1893), whose fi nal fade-out measures -like Musorgsky's -oscillate between a tonic b-minor and a supertonic seventh sonority: Example 14: Parallels between Tcha ikovsky (a) and Musorgsky (b) As a parallel resolution, On the River's frequent modal refrains on CK 7 , A 7 , F 7 and again CK are eventually dissolved in the closing Phrygian cadence on D-CK in mm. 48-49. Th is conclusive progression may refl ect upon the previous D-emphasis of nos. 1+2 and the stormy parts of no. 6 (Elegy), mm. 20-24+31f. One is also reminded of the musically related song Epitaph (also composed in 1874), which modulates from e fl at-minor down to an unresolved ending on D, as well as Borodin's First Symphony (1869) with its semitonal scaff old on EL-D-DL. Finally, On the River frequently causes its refrains to disintegrate in favor of arpeggiated fi gurations (as in mm. 34-37) that already forecast the symphonic introductions to Chovanščina, Acts I snd V (1873-1874).
Musorgsky's national folk drama, Chovanščina was also begun during the Sunless period. namely, 1873 for the initial sections of Acts I, III and V. Moreover, its seminal Act I was completed during the fall of 1874 and early months of 1875, immediately after terminating the Sunless cycle on August 25, 1874. Indeed, Sunless' wavering, quasi-impressionistic harmonies and oblique relationships in many respects forecast Chovanščina's Act I. Like the funereal DK fanfares in entity (»auf sich selbst bezogen«). To be sure, she also admits that the fi nal songs nos. 1 and 6 (On the River) share similar pedals on D (no. 1) and C-sharp (fi nal no. 6).
Sunless' Elegy, mm. 44-48, Chovanščina's Act I bell and strelt'sy fanfares in cK and fK provide for a loose kind of cyclical unity: 8

Example 15: Chovanščina's Act I fanfares
In addition to these fanfare refrains, Musorgsky is careful to remind the listener of the fundamental CK/DL tonality at two central points in Act I:i: a) the scrivener's reading of the pillar's inscription in 587f. and b) Marfa's elegiac, DL 7 -based ariosos in 876f. and 930f., with their nostalgic echoes of Sunless' On the River.
Th e A-major/a-minor connecting third link between FK and CK is especially evident in Ex. 15b, c and e. Furthermore, A is very prevalent in the scrivener's and strel'tsy's music at the outset of Act I. It also extensively fl uctuates with its lower diatonic neighbours G and F during the folkish choral scenes. In particular, G is conspicuously present in the people's asides in Act I, mm. 288-295 and 446-452, as well as Emma's love scene with Andrej Chovanskij. Together with the C-major welcoming chorus for Ivan Chovanskij (m. 658f.) anf Kuz'ka's biting barbs with his fellow strel'tsy (146-162), this lighter G/C realm injects a temporary brighter pitch sphere in sharp contrast to the prevailing, darker cK/ fK matrix. Of special interest are the carefully positioned f-minor episodes in Chovanščina's Act I, which can be heard as a temporarily tonicized mediant/ submediant of DL or A: Table 3: Somber, recurring f-minor episodes in Chovanščina's Act I Since F-minor is the relative minor of AL-major, it can also function as a kind of pivot harmony back to the fi fth cycle on AL-EL-DL-CK, as after no. 4 (m. 776f.). In addition, Musorgsky frequently employs motivic variants of the Act I introduction's opening theme m. 5f. (e 2 -gK 2 -b 2 -gK 2 -cK 3 , with its prominent sixth on e 2 -cK 3 ), notably in Table 3's nos. 2-5 and so injects a kind of heightened Neapolitan (F vs. initial E-major of mm. 1-6) fl avor for the entire Act I.
In contrast, Chovanščina's chamber-like Act II presents a more static, selfcontained musico-dramatic entity. Its fundamental d/D-tonality concludes Golicyn's monologues in mm. 109-142+373-395 and also represents the central key of the concluding mm. 709-838. D typically modulates to the aristocratic keys of F, BL, EL and AL for the pastor's scene and ensuing princes' quarrels: a parallel progression to the fi nal tonal thrusts towards EL/DL at the close of Act I, mm. 776-806, 867-895, 927-949 and1005-1042. Marfa's two G-major scenes in Act II function as a kind of harmonic subdominant to Golicyn's d/D key. Moreover, they also echo Emma's G-tonality in Act I. Signifi cantly, her G-key also tends to modulate towards EL and aL-minor, thus mirroring the princes' tonal movements at the end of Act II. Musorgsky's concern for overall tonal-motivic unity is also seen in the fact that Act II begins with a F-major triad that resolves the closing FK-A-C-E sonority at the end of Act I. Th is aura of a fresh beginning in Act II is also underlined by Golicyn's opening melody (d 2 -c 2 -g 2 -a 2 -f 2 -d 2 -c 2 etc.) that appears to echo the opening Promenade from Pictures, and thus provides another signifi cant link to Musorgsky's past.
Chovanščina's Act III returns even more emphatically to the principal pitch matrices and motivic gestures of Act I: a cyclical structure reminiscent of Boris' prologue and Act IV's death scene. Just as Act II begins with a harmonic resolution (in F-major) of Act I's close (in a-minor, with additional bass FK), the outset of Act III recalls the concluding Old Believers' music from Act II (again in D, but now endowed with a darker underpinning in b-minor). Th is elegant musico-dramatic link then serves to recall Act I's prelude, which returns as a folk song metamorphosis in the shape of Marfa's song (Th ere went a maiden) and also during the subsequent G-major strel'tsy chorus: 16A Act I's prelude, mm. 5-8 16B Marfa's Russian folk song, Act III, mm. 64-67 16C G-major strel'tsy chorus, Act III, mm. 498-506

Example 16: Metamorphoses of Act I's prelude
Similarly, the scrivener's suave melody (Po uriadu, I, 229-236) returns during Susanna's sorrowful response, Tiažkij, neiskupimyi griech! in Act III (fi rst version of 1873), mm. 112-114. Th is particular relationship appears to illustrate the shared dramatic positions of Susanna (:a professed enemy of Marfa) and the scrivener (:an opponent of the Marfa-allied strel'tsy). In like manner, Kuz'ka's aminor/fK-minor songs in III, 651-757 recall his A-majorish music in I, 106-143 (cf. the prominent fourth intervals on b-e 1 and a-e), just as the people's chorus in III, 676-679 quotes the analogous folk number in I, 290+447: 17A Scrivener and Susanna 17B Kuz'ka's music in Acts I and III

Example 17: Cyclical links between Acts I and III
Likewise, the total tonal organization of Act III returns to the CK-FK matrix of Act I, since the opening dialogue between Susanna and Marfa gravitates around Marfa's DL key (cf . mm. 199-202+385-388, as she kneels for forgiveness before Dosifej) and Susanna-Dosifej's FK. Moreover, Kuz'ka's FK-minor song-chorus in 676-771 continues the Old Believers' FK-emphasis and the tragic impact of this particular key. Frequently fK is converted into an enharmonic gL over a supporting eL, as during Marfa's ariosos in mm. 191-194+377-380; Šaklovityj's aria (405-478), the scrivener's excited entry in 777-814 plus the strel'tsy's fi nal choruses in 871-928. Viewed as a totality, we observe that EL (:V of the opera's eventual tonic AL) grows increasingly strong during the fi rst three acts, beginning with the EL choruses towards the end of Act I (mm. 784-806 and 943-949) and the burgeoning EL stress during the aristocratic scenes of Act II.
If the tonal organization of Act III is particularly meticulous, its motivic layout is equally masterful. We have already seen that Susanna's and Kuz'ka' melodies frequently echo central Act I themes. Yet Musorgsky is also keenly aware of the spiritual kinship between Marfa (:the main symbol of Russia's salvation) and her surrounding cast of characters. In this connection we should also mention her graceful, lyrical theme from Act II, 276-277 (composed in 1875, but based on an earlier draft from 1870), which is -somewhat surprisingly -again employed for her rival Susanna' s questioning "Al' ja slaba na razum stala?" in Act III (original 1873 version), mm. 229-230:

Example 18: Susanna's employment of Marfa's Act II melody
Th is process of tonal and motivic consolidation is intensifi ed in the two scenes of Act IV, whose overall harmonic movements may be summarized as follows: Example 19: Basic harmonic layout in Act IV Th e fundamental tonal progressions appear to be centered on gK-eL-fK/g-f-g for scene 1 and eL-fK-AL for scene 2. In addition, the entire Act IV is enclosed by interlocking references to the opera's fi nal tonic gK/aL. Likewise, the intervening episodes in both scenes consistently stress eL-minor and fK-minor, or aL: v-Lvii. One is again reminded of the preceding Act III, where eL-fK-minor progressions were central linear highlights. Moreover, the contrasting diatonic realms of C-major (Ivan Chovanskij, mm. 42f.+447f.; Dosifej, 571) and F (peasant girls, 71-94)/D-d (Marfa-Andrej dialogue, 605f.) are familiar features from the opening Marfa-Dosifej scene in Act III. As in Act III, Musorgsky also motivically amalgamates the bell music from Act I's prelude, mm. 37-43 -quoted later by Marfa in II, 773-776 -with key themes in Act IV. As a result the composer successfully crafts an imposing, climactic act that recapitulates many earlier Marfa scenes from Acts I and III.
Viewed as a totality, Chovanščina's formal structure recalls that of Boris Godunov, in that the fi nal love duet and immolation scenes of Act V -like Boris' death monologue -present a comprehensive cyclical summary of the central Act I episodes. Moreover, these are set in motion by Marfa's expressive ariosos in Acts III:i (original version, 1873) and IV (cf. Boris' climactic solos in Boris II). Both works also utilize semitonal Neapolitan contrasts such as D/C sharp (Boris I:i+ii) or D/EL (Chovanščina II, beginning and middle of Act V), although Chovanščina's are more directional in scope. Indeed, Chovanščina's harmonic layout is somewhat more classical in style in that the fi nal tonic AL receives a clear subdominantal underpinning in the Act I prelude and also Marfa's music in the middle of Act V, 208-211. In addition, AL's subdominant CK/DL consistently gives way to AL's even more emphatic dominant EL at the close of Acts II, III and V. In this manner Musorgsky eventually overcomes the tonal instability and oscillations of Act I.
Th e closing parts of Act II again oscillate between d/D-a/A-B/D for the godfather's freely strophic song and E for the choral setting of the Ukrainian folksong Du, du (1015-1061), plus the related e-minor for the choral Ty bedu . Th e fi nal keys of FK for the Tale of the Red Jacket and eL-minor for the closing pandemonium inject eff ective moments of harmonic instability on G:KVII and G:LVI that will again be encountered in Act III: Musorgsky employs these citations as intervallic germ cells, or abstract foundations that he freely inverts (as in I, 38-39; III, 58-59) or develops symphonically (IV, 42-93): a forecast of Stravinsky's later serial-intervallic works as In memoriam Dylan Th omas (1954).
In summary, Musorgsky's art can be characterized as highly innovative in several respects. To begin with, his textures typically incorporate chromatic bass lines that penetrate the inner voices in Schumann's vein. We already encounter this phenomenon in the early songs Sadly Rustled the Leaves (1859) and What Are Words of Love (1860): two lyrical masterpieces penned when the composer was barely twenty years old.
Th is kind of freely evolving texture eventually develops into expansive formal structures with climactic codas, as in the songs, I have many palaces and gardens (1863), Prayer (1865) and Cradle Song (also 1865). Th e latter two are especially notable for their wavering, oscillating Neapolitan (LII) fl uctuations.
Musorgsky's realistic songs from the years 1866-1868 are characterized by ostinato rhythms and second intervals, which again penetrate the inner voices as well, as in Gopak, Darling Savishna and Th e He-Goat. In a larger sense, these stylistic features may be viewed as precursors of the symphonic tone poem Night on Bald Mountain (1867) and the famous choral ostinati in his later operas Boris Godunov (1868-1872) and Chovanščina (1873-1880), which inspired numerous passages in Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps (1913) and Oedipus Rex (1927).
Concurrently, Musorgsky's three early operas Salambo (1863-1866), Th e Marriage (1868, with completed Act I) and Boris Godunov (1868-1872) begin to utilize cyclical circles-of-fi fths as modulatory pillars (compare keys of AL-EL-FK/F-DL in Salambo or cK-bL-EL-AL-D/DL in Boris). Th ese two parallel works are again characterized by sharp minor second clashes (cf. the realistic songs of 1866-1868) to bring out dramatic dualisms. A convenient example would be the FK worship of the goddess Tanita as opposed to the Libyan incursion (in F) into Tanita's sacred abode. Similarly, one might quote Boris' metaphysical realms (centered on DL/CK) vs. the people's everyday sphere of D.
In the 1870's Musorgsky's style (as in the song cycle, Th e Nursery, 1868-1870) begins to incorporate milder, more neo-Classical idioms with triadic harmonies and third relationships: a more traditional style that Stravinsky emulated in many of his middle-period works from 1919-1952. In his two central masterpieces Chovanščina, Acts I and III (1873+1873-1876), as well as Sunless (1874) our composer starts to work with impressionistic sound-worlds and multifaceted, oblique pitch relationships based on seventh and sixth sonorities. Th is is the modernistic Musorgsky closest to Debussy's idioms and many early Stravinsky works that directly appropriate Musorgsky's 1874 music, such as Rossignol, Sacre and Symphony of Psalms. Not surprisingly, Stravinsky in his later years (1960's) even contemplated orchestrating Musorgsky's Sunless cycle.
Th e fi nal chapter in Musorgsky's creative evolution may be seen in the late song-cycle Songs and Dances of Death (1875+1877) and Act IV of Chovanščina (1876)(1877)(1878)(1879)(1880). In these compositions the Russian composer smoothly amalgamates modernistic quotation techniques (such as the Beethoven and Berlioz citations in Songs and Dances of Death, or the two marches quoted in Songs and Dances of Death no. 4 and Chovanščina Act IV:ii) with intervallic and contrapuntal techniques culled from traditional Western music. Simultaneously, Musorgsky also imcorporates the climactic metamorphosis techniques from his earlier 1860's styles and the variation idioms employed in Boris Godunov.

Linear Designs in Musorgsky's Music Abstract
Th e study presents a structural analysis of Modest Petrovich Musorgsky's output. Th e songs are studied in detail as well as the extensive musical dramatic works. Th e fi ndings of Musorgsky's compositional style are given in the context of wider contemporary musical tendencies.