Modest Musorgsky (1839-1881)

Early Life:
Musorgsky, like most of the Kuchka circle, started at his adult life in the military. He was the second son in his family, and his older brother was slated to inherit and run the family estate, while Modest was expected to have a military career. As you might expect, he showed signs of musical creativity quite early; as a small child he would try to improvise piano accompaniments to the folktales his nurse would tell him.1 Well, his military career lasted just two years, and in 1858, having begun to study composition with Balakirev, he resigned his commission and devoted himself to music. In retrospect, this might not have been the best idea: Modest was largely relying on income from the family estate and when Tsar Alexander II liberated the serfs throughout the country in 1861 the estate suffered greatly in productivity causing Modest to seek support elsewhere.

1 ROBERT WILLIAM OLDANI: 'Musorgsky, Modest Petrovich, §1: Childhood and beginnings as a composer', Grove Music Online (Accessed 26 March 2008), <http://www.grovemusic.com/shared/views/article.html?section=music.19468.1>