Topic: 3.Choose two characters from Khovanshchina and show how Musorgsky presents them to us throughout the opera.
Modest Musorgsky was a Russian composer, who was born in 1839, and one of the five Russian nationalist composers known as ‘The Five’ or ‘The Mighty Five’, which was a group sharing the vision of creating purely Russian Music. Mursorgsky’s music was uniquely Russian, expressing the ‘Russian Soul’, which was raw and crude-sounding. His works were largely inspired by Russian history and Russian folklore. His famous works include the ‘Boris Godunov’, ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’ and the ‘Night on Bald Mountain’. Many of his works, however, were left unfinished by the time of his death. The opera ‘Khovanshcina’ was one of them.
Khovanshchina…show more content… There are three central characters, including Ivan Khovansky, Gloitsyn and Dosifey, leading the whole story, and their primary function is to represent movements or groups that challenge Peter’s preoccupation, which is the politics of control. The opera largely depicts their relationships, acts and interactions. Each of the main characters has their own distinctive personality, which gives the audience a strong impression. In the following passage I would like to talk about two central characters including Prince Ivan Khovansky, the head of the Streltsy, and Prince Golitsyn, and would discuss how Musorgsky presents them to us throughout the…show more content… This theme appears when Ivan Khovansky first enters the red square with his streltsy in act 1, and the same recurs when Khovansky appears again. The theme used in the paternity of the latter’s in act 1 is also based on this powerful theme. It is notable that, before Prince Khovansky enters the scene, the streltsy performs a short unaccompanied song in 4 parts. As a result, Khovansky’s main theme appearing afterwards stands out starkly against this part in terms of the atmosphere, presenting a tense, serious and solemn pomp. This gives a strong first impression of this powerful and dangerous man to the
