Conductor,
B. WALTON O'DONNELL
WALTER GLYNNE (tenor) Few short orchestral pieces have had a more interesting history than Mussorgsky's ' March, with Turkish trio '. The first version of the March dates from 1872, when Mussorgsky, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Cui were invited to collaborate in the composition of an opera, Mlada. The commission was never executed, but this March, a ' procession of princes ', was part of Mussorgsky's share of the work. The chief melody is a Volga boatmen's song, not unlike the Volga boatmen's song in character. Originally, the March had a different trio.
In 1880 another commission came along. Various Russian composers were invited to write music for tableaux vivants commemorating the silver jubilee of Tsar Alexander II. Mussorgsky chose as his subject the taking of Kars from the Turks, and used his old Mlada march, providing it with a new middle section based on a Turkish theme.