3. Read the following passage about Modest Mussorgsky and choose the best endings for the sentences which follow:

Mussorgsky's importance and influence on later composers are quite out of proportion to his relatively small output. Few composers were less derivative, or developed such original and bold style.

The 65 songs he composed, many to his own texts, describe scenes of Russian life with great vividness and insight and realistically reproduce the inflections of the spoken Russian language.

Mussorgsky's operas Boris Godunov and to a lesser extent Khovanshchina display his dramatic technique of setting sharply characterized individuals against the background of country and people. His power of musical portrayal, his strong characterizations, and the importance he assigned to the role of the chorus--all expressions of his anti-Romantic convictions--establish Boris Godunov as a masterpiece. From a technical standpoint, Mussorgsky's unorthodox use of tonality and harmony and his method of fusing arioso and recitative provide Boris Godunov with a dramatic intensity that he failed to recapture in his later operas.

Shortly after Mussorgsky's death, his original harmonic and instrumental style was unjustifiably criticized. Rimsky-Korsakov, with the well-meaning intention of cleaning Mussorgsky's works of what he considered to be their harmonic eccentricities and instrumental weaknesses, edited and "corrected" almost the entire output of the deceased composer. Rimsky-Korsakov's widely performed edition of Boris Godunov is the best known of these works. From about 1908, however, after the production of Rimsky-Korsakov's version of Boris Godunov at the Paris Opera, there was a growing demand for the original versions of Mussorgsky's works, which were made available beginning in 1928 in a collected edition edited by Paul Lamm. This edition displayed Mussorgsky's original orchestration for Boris Godunov, which is as stark and economical as his unorthodox harmony.

Mussorgsky's importance and influence on later composers…

…are as insignificant as his output;

…are much greater than his output;

…are proportionate to his output.

Few composers …

…derived more from different original styles;

…developed less original and bold style;

…were more original and experimental in their music.

Mussorgsky's songs…

…show a realistic use of conversational Russian language;

…produce an impression of being inflexible;

…have texts abundant in inflections.

Mussorgsky's operas Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina…

…follow Romantic traditions of showing extraordinary individuals;

…show historical personalities in unity with their country and people;

…display a broad panorama of people's life at the expense of individual characters.

Mussorgsky's operas after Boris Godunov…

… were much more mature from a technical standpoint;

… display the same unorthodox use of tonality and harmony;

… lack the dramatic intensity the composer managed to achieve in Godunov.

Shortly after Mussorgsky's death his style…

…was undeservedly criticised;

… was correctly criticized;

… was overestimated.

Rimsky-Korsakov edited and "corrected" almost the entire output of the deceased composer…

… because he thought Mussorgsky's music had some weak points which could be corrected to better effect;

… with the intention to simplify Mussorgsky's music for orchestral performance;

… because he did not like his eccentricity.

Listen to some piece of Mussorgsky’s music and discuss your impressions.