# NIght on Bald Mountain **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 12, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-on-bald-mountain/298898 "2005-04-12T01:45:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-on-bald-mountain/298898/1 "2005-04-12T01:45:46Z")
I have a question concernign Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain.” I’ve heard that the song is about St. John fighting the Devil on Bald Mountain. Is this true? Is it even akin to truth? Does the song have any story behing it at all? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-on-bald-mountain/298898/2 "2005-04-12T13:39:21Z")
Ummm…outside of it’s involvement with a anthropomorphic cartoon mouse, I know nothing. But I’ll bump the Thread for the Tuesday crowd. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-on-bald-mountain/298898/3 "2005-04-12T13:52:48Z")
I’ve never read the story in question, so I can’t tell you precisely what it was about. Nikolai Gogol’s story “St. John’s Eve” was the inspiration for “Night on Bald Mountain.” In Russia, the Feast of St. John the Baptist coincided with the summer solstice, and there had long been pagan legends in Russia about witches and demons flying about the mountainsides at the solstice. You’ll have to read the story to find out the plot and the specifics. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-on-bald-mountain/298898/4 "2005-04-12T16:43:01Z")
Thanks, **Astorian**. I’ll check it out ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-on-bald-mountain/298898/5 "2005-04-12T16:47:52Z")
FWIW, I understand that the rendition shown in Disney’s _Fantasia_ is a fairly accurate portrayal of the musical story. The devil himself awakens on Saint John’s night and gathers to himself the forces of darkness. They cavort and celebrate a Black Mass until they are scared away by the tolling of church bells. As a side note, Mussorgsky’s original arrangement of the piece was considered a bit too wild by his musical compatriots. The arrangement that is most often heard was done by Rimsky-Korsakov, who brought some of the chaos under control by making the piece conform a little more closesly to the compositional conventions of the time. Locating a recording of the original arrangement isn’t easy, but well worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2005, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-on-bald-mountain/298898/6 "2005-04-12T20:31:33Z")
> [@](#): > > In Russia, the Feast of St. John the Baptist coincided with the summer solstice In all of Christianity, actually. Or at least all that celebrates feast days of saints. The Bible tells us that John was six months older than Jesus, so if we celebrate Jesus’ birth at the winter solstice, then logically, we should celebrate John’s at the summer solstice. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/96bed5/32.png) [@Cat\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Jones)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/night-on-bald-mountain/298898/7 "2005-04-13T14:32:02Z")
‘Bare’ mountain guys ‘bare’.