Under the direction of Johan Hock from Queen's College Chambers
Lecture Hall, Birmingham
A Recital by Doris Watkins (soprano) and Andre Evnett (pianoforte)
Mussorgsky's ' Nursery' Songs, composed to his own words at various times during the period 1868-72, are among the finest of his essays in musical realism. The vocal line is as near to ' literal translation' of words into terms of tone as any composer has ever got-or is ever likely to get. These songs are not ' for ' children or ' about ' children ; they are the very voice of childhood. The child asks his muse for a story, gets put in the corner and calls her' cross old thing ', is frightened by a beetle and kills it, sings his doll to sleep, gabbles through his prayers, rides his hobby-horse (and has an accident), saves his pet bird from the cat-and each little incident is perfectly caught and expressed in Mussorgsky's music.