Another Night On a Bare Mountain

Night on a Bare Mountain (aka Night on Bald Mountain) is a series of compositions written by composer Modest Mussorgsky (1839 – 1881). It was only after his death that it was finally performed publically and became known thanks to Rimsky-Korsakov. It achieved world renown through Disney’s movie Fantasia in 1940.

Audio version at https://soundcloud.com/user-62051685/another-night-on-a-bare

Ethereal mist drifts across moss-covered gravestones,

midnight, mordant air alive with pitch-fork static,

bolt lightening zig zags, ire of rancorous Gods,

faded names on tombs visible fleetingly, then gone.

Standing in a circle, palms and faces turned upwards,

dark robes ripple against a fierce, flagitious wind,

this band of sisters summoning elemental forces,

Pagan magic and witchcraft forged from archaic spells.

Bare Mountain fantasia, ornate throne casts shadows,

wrathful witches watch and await their master,

luminescence and moonlight, evil Incarnate called,

a kid borne of Mendes arrives and takes its seat.

Around and around, dancing ever faster, frenetic,

unhallowed heads thrown back, they chant and praise,

faithless acolytes reaching fever pitch, death becomes life,

Satan chooses a maiden to beg its mischievous pleasure.

This is the enchantress’s tale of the unholy Sabbath,

of Russian peasantry and folk stories from Kiev,

a legend of ancient lore captured in composition,

an eternal cycle unbroken, life becomes death.

Mussorgsky – Night on a Bald Mountain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCEDfZgDPS8

Image free to use at WikiCommons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:La_Danse_du_Sabbat_(no_caption).jpg