Una Larme (A Tear Drop)

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (21 March 1839 – 28 March 1881) was a Russian composer, one of the group known as "The Five". He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period. He strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music.

Many of his works were inspired by Russian history, Russian folklore, and other nationalist themes. Such works include the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral tone poem Night on Bald Mountain and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition.

For many years Mussorgsky's works were mainly known in versions revised or completed by other composers. Many of his most important compositions have posthumously come into their own in their original forms, and some of the original scores are now also available.

"Una Larme" was composed in 1880. I think I read that this was the composer's last work.

I found hard to "get this right." The sounds of the piano doe not "translate" easily to the organ.

It is a sad work. Written in G minor, I think that the the "unusual" change to G major depicts just how fragile and how fleeting is happiness. It is wonderful when it arrives and lives in the heart, but how quickly it vanishes, leaving in its place - a tear drop.

The fine transcription was done by Arthur Eaglefield Hull (1876–1928), and you can read more about him, his work, and his tragic suicide in the "comments" of any of my other "Russian transcription" uploads.

The transcription score is attached below, as well as photos of Mussorgsky and Hull.