Mussorgsky's one of those ill-starred composers who was fond of a drink. A Russian, who must have battled a few demons in his life, trudging through the snow on many a dark Moscow winter night wondering where his next opera was coming from.

BORIS GODUNOV



A big bell rang for me
hearing Boris Godunov;
I listened to the chorus
and was transported
by the Russian melodies.

I had fallen like the Tzar
under the weight of troubles
I couldn't shake off,
but Mussorgsky's striking music
- the music of the clocks -
made me feel like a king,
like a Romanov.

The music held an urgent message:
The devil's biting your tail,
Boris Godunov!

He fell with a thud,
the great bell tolled,
dead at last, the unhappy Tzar.