Gravestone of Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky

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This is the resting place of Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, born March 21, 1839, and passed away on March 28, 1881. He was a Russian composer, part of the group known as "The Five." As an innovator of Russian music in the romantic period, he strove to create a distinctly Russian musical identity, often challenging established Western music conventions. Many of his works were inspired by Russian history, folklore, and nationalist themes. Examples include the opera Boris Godunov, the orchestral tone poem Night on Bald Mountain, and the piano suite Pictures at an Exhibition. For years, Mussorgsky's compositions were mainly known through versions revised or completed by other composers. However, many of his most important works have posthumously gained recognition in their original forms, with some of the original scores now available. Founded in 1932, the State Museum of City Sculptures is dedicated to studying, restoring, and protecting city sculptures and gravestones. The museum maintains several branches around St Petersburg but primarily focuses on former Aleksandro-Nevsky Lavra territory granted upon its founding. Established in 1823, Tikhvinskoe Cemetery was named after the Our Lady of Tikhvin Church built between 1869 and 1873. In 1931, the church was closed, and by 1932, the cemetery became a State Museum of City Sculptures branch known as the Necropolis of Masters of Culture. This name reflects that many prominent figures in Russian culture have been laid to rest here, including writers Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nikolai Karamzin, and Ivan Krylov; composers Aleksandr Borodin, Mikhail Glinka, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Pyotr Tchaikovsky; and artists Boris Kustodiev, Ivan Kramskoy, and Ivan Shishkin among many others.