Mussorgsky: Sunless

Introduction

Sunless (Russian: Без солнца, Bez Solntsa, literally Without Sun) is a song cycle by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, written in 1874, to poems by Arseny Golenishchev-Kutuzov, a relative of the composer.

Song titles

The individual song titles are as follows:

1. "В четырех стенах" ("Within four walls") – D major
2. "Меня в толпе ты не узнала" ("Thou didst not know me in the crowd") – D major
3. "Окончен праздный шумный день" ("The noisy festival day is ended") – C major
4. "Скучай" ("Boredom: For the album of a fashionable young lady") – B minor
5. "Элегия" ("Elegy") – B minor, ending in F-sharp minor
6. "Над рекой" ("By the River") – C-sharp major

Appearance in popular culture

• The piece was featured and discussed in the film-essay Sans Soleil by director Chris Marker, receiving an electronic experimental interpretation by composer Isao Tomita.