Modest Mussorgsky

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (Russian: Моде́ст Петро́вич Му́соргский, Modest Petrovič Musorgskij), also Modeste, Moussorgsky (and see also Модест Петрович Мусоргский) (March 9/21, 1839 – March 16/28, 1881), one of five Russian composers known as the mighty handful or the five, they were: Mily Balakirev (the leader), César Cui, Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Alexander Borodin.), was an innovator of Russian music. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western Music.