The Nursery (song cycle) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Nursery is a song cycle

Song cycle

A song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...

by Modest Mussorgsky

Modest Mussorgsky

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was a Russian composer, one of the group known as 'The Five'. He was an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period...

, composed between 1868 and 1872, set to his own lyrics.

Song Data

Series	Title	Translation	Date	Dedication	Pub. Date	Publisher	Notes
Series 1, No. 1	С няней	With Nanny		Aleksandr Dargomïzhsky Alexander Dargomyzhsky Alexander Sergeyevich Dargomyzhsky was a 19th century Russian composer. He bridged the gap in Russian opera composition between Mikhail Glinka and the later generation of The Five and Tchaikovsky....	1872	Bessel
Series 1, No. 2	В углу	In the Corner		Viktor Gartman Viktor Hartmann Viktor Alexandrovich Hartmann was a Russian architect and painter. He was associated with the Abramtsevo Colony, purchased and preserved beginning in 1870 by Savva Mamontov, and the Russian Revival.-Life:Victor-Edouard Hartmann was born in St...	1872	Bessel
Series 1, No. 3	Жук	The Beetle		Vladimir Stasov	1872	Bessel
Series 1, No. 4	С куклой	With the Doll		Tanyushka and Goga Musorgsky	1872	Bessel
Series 1, No. 5	На сон грядущий	At Bedtime		Sasha Cui	1872	Bessel
Series 2, No. 1	Поехал на палочке	Ride on a Stick Horse			1908	Bessel
Series 2, No. 2	Кот Матрос	The Cat 'Sailor'			1908	Bessel
Series 2, No. 3	Сон	Dream	–	–	–	–	Projected or not written down
Series 2, No. 4	[Unknown]	[Unknown]	–	–	–	–	Projected or not written down

Series 1

1. With Nanny

A child begs the nurse to tell a story, first about the awful bogey-man who carries naughty children into the forest and devours them, and later about a fairy-tale Tsar and Tsaritsa who live in a rich palace by the sea.

2. In the Corner

The nurse berates Mishenka for spoiling her knitting and sends him to the corner.

3. The Beetle

A child relates to the nurse an encounter with a large beetle.

4. With the Doll

A child sings a lullaby to her doll.

5. At Bedtime

A child recites his prayers.

Series 2

The two surviving songs of Series 2, along with new edition of the five songs of Series 1, were published by V. Bessel and Co.

V. Bessel and Co.

V. Bessel and Co. was a musical firm founded in 1869 in St Petersburg by Vasily Vasil’yevich Bessel . His brother N. V. Bessel was a co-owner of the firm....

in 1908.

1. Ride on a Stick Horse

A child relating his imaginary journey to Yukki on a stick horse falls, injures himself, and resumes his journey.

2. The Cat 'Sailor'

A child foils the attempt by Matros ("Sailor") the cat to catch the family canary.

3. Dream

A child's fantastic dream

4. [Unknown title]

A quarrel between two children

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