Sung by Tatiana Makushina (Soprano)
Parassia's Song from the Opera, The Fair of Sorotchinrzi
To the Dnieper
Moussorgsky never finished the opera The Fair of Sorotckintzi (based on a tale by Gogol). We know very well one extract from it - that favourite dance, the Gopak. In this song Parassia is day-dreaming about her lover. At first she feels sad and knows not why. Then, throwing off that mood, she sings of her hope that her lover will come to see her soon. Here we have a gay dance rhythm in which is heard the 'click clack' of dogs.
The next two songs are from a cycle of seven, The Nursery, telling of the child's day, full of activities. In the Corner means trouble : the imp has been naughty- tangled up the cotton on the work-table, and spilt the ink. He tries to wriggle out of it, and shows temper, so Nurse passes sentence..... Note here the way in which Moussorgsky puts melody aside for the sake of realism.
The last song is a broadly-drawn invocation to the river Dnieper, written in a folk-tune-like style, with alternating rhythms (seven in a bar, besides six and three).