Modest Mussorgsky

Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky
Russian composer.
Born: March 21 (March 9 O.S.), 1839, Karevo, Pskov Governorate, Russian Empire
Died: March 28 (March 16 O.S.), 1881, Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire

One of the Russian composers known as "Могучая кучка" / "The Five", 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.