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This chapter discusses the opera Boris Goudenow, a famous masterpiece of realism by Modest Mussorgsky. Boris is a kaleidoscopic entertainment that catered to its audience's presumed attention span with a multitude of tiny numbers for a varied cast of ten soloists and a prominent chorus; with serious and comic scenes intermixed à la Shakespeare in defiance of courtly neoclassical principle; and with dancing bodies vying for notice with singing ones. Stylistically, like many operas by Hamburgers, it is a sandwich of French bread and Italian fillers. Like a Versailles court extravaganza by Lully, it begins with a pompous overture and ends with a stage- and eye-filling chaconne. Along the way, many of the arias, especially amorous ones, are sung in Italian—although just as many, and all the dialogues, are sung in German—simply because, as Mattheson wrote, “the Italian language suits music very well.”

This introductory chapter discusses the theme of this volume which is about the influence of literary and historical texts on musical composition in Russia during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This volume examines the problem arising from the relation between the voice of Russian music and its message and the consequences of the ideological and textual dependence of Russian music on historical and literary consciousness. It analyzes several relevant works. These include Mikhail Glinka's Ruslan and Ludmila, Modest Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina and Boris Godunov, Pyotr Ilyich's Eugene Onegin and The Queen of Spades, and Dmitri Shostakovich's Fourth Symphony.

This chapter examines Modest Mussorgsky's opera Khovanshchina. It explais that the historical basis of its plot came from the succession of violent events stretching through the last two decades of the seventeenth century. It suggests that the opera's plot failed to achieve full stability and coherence because Mussorgksy composed verbal monologues and dialogues alongside the music in a kind of patchwork and it did not follow any literary prototype for its musical narrative.

This chapter examines Modest Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov. It discusses how the opera became a tangible presence in the culture of European modernism. It also explains that it took time for Mussorgsky's innovative dramatic design to be adapted in Western theater and it was Giacomo Puccini's Turandot that introduced a Musorgskian unruly crowd to the Western musical drama.

In the concluding chapter, it is proposed that while dialogue, music, poetry, and storytelling—collectively the lifeblood of this work—should by no means be regarded as substitutes for progressive public policy or impactful legislation in the ongoing struggle for autistic rights, they are nevertheless valuable in their own right and can pave the way toward new policies and laws that make a real, positive difference. Conversation, in particular, is singled out for its capacity to help us “find common ground from which to move forward in common purpose toward the common good” while distancing us from “the tragic patterns of divisiveness, prejudice, intolerance, and denial of the humanity of others that darken the record of human history at every turn.” For conversation to foster such gains, however, our discourses must be approached with a commitment to really listening to what other people have to say. The greatest hope that the author and his collaborators have for this book, it is stated, is that its conversations and stories will ultimately “contribute in some meaningful way to making a future world that not only accepts neurodiversity but celebrates it as a hallmark of our shared humanity.” The work concludes with, first, a quotation from Hans Asperger emphasizing the importance of deeply engaged, compassionate conversation in his work with autistic children and, second, a closing poem from Mara Chasar, who suggests that however grave the challenges faced by autistic people may be, to be accepted, inspired, and loved by others will go a long way toward meeting them.