Mussorgsky. Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel), Night on Bare Mountain (original and Rimsky-Korsakov versions). National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine. Naxos. DDD 8.555924

Russian soldier, modest Petrovich Mussorgsky was the son of a landowner, and an officer in the army.

However, a passion for music led him to try his hand at composing and, with no formal training, he wrote operas and entertained his friends.

Russia was going through great social turmoil at the time, and Mussorgsky ended up as a clerk in the Ministry of Communication.

His biographer and Balakirev, founder of the nationalists reported him to be "a complete idiot," yet he went on to compose Boris Gudunov.

Leaving the civil service to teach and write music, alcohol became a prop that ultimately would kill him.

His works, both unfinished and finished were revised and edited by Rimsky-Korsakov, a colleague from whom he had had lessons in harmony.

A Night on Bare Mountain was composed as music for a play The Witch. Later Rimsky-Korsakov was to re-write the piece from scratch, and both versions are on this recording.

Pictures at an Exhibition was written as a tribute to a friend, artist Victor Hartmann, who died in 1873.

Mussorgsky skilfully interpreted the paintings, designs, models and drawings. The exhibits are linked by a Promenade and the works take on a variety of styles, ending with a triumphant conclusion.

This recording features the orchestration of French composer Maurice Ravel, and is probably the best-known, both for its colour and vibrancy.

THURSDAY, April 24: CBSO Centre Stage at CBSO Centre, Berkley Street, Birmingham. Tickets 0121 767 4050 or www.cbso.co.uk.

SATURDAY, APRIL 26: Chamber Concert. Works by Mozart, Beethoven and Dvorak by Bochmann Quartet and Yonty Solomon (piano) at Huntingdon Hall. Box office 01905 611427.