<P> Night on Bald Mountain (Russian: Ночь на лысой горе, Noch ′ na lysoy gore), also known as Night on the Bare Mountain, is a series of compositions by Modest Mussorgsky (1839--1881). Inspired by Russian literary works and legend, Mussorgsky composed a "musical picture", St. John's Eve on Bald Mountain (Russian: Иванова ночь на лысой горе,' Ivanova noch ′ na lysoy gore) on the theme of a witches' sabbath occurring on St. John's Eve, which he completed on that very night, 23 June 1867 . Together with Nikolay Rimsky - Korsakov's Sadko (1867), it is one of the first tone poems by a Russian composer . </P> <P> Although Mussorgsky was proud of his youthful effort, his mentor, Miliy Balakirev, refused to perform it . To salvage what he considered worthy material, Mussorgsky attempted to insert his Bald Mountain music, recast for vocal soloists, chorus, and orchestra, into two subsequent projects--the collaborative opera - ballet Mlada (1872), and the opera The Fair at Sorochyntsi (1880). However, Night on Bald Mountain was never performed in any form during Mussorgsky's lifetime . </P>

When was night on bald mountain first performed