Rise, Rise, Lovely Red Sun

As one of the “Mighty Five” group of Russian nationalist composers, Modést Musorgsky made his small contribution to the genre of folk-song arrangements by these four choruses for men’s voices. Taken together, they make an effective program set, but they can also be performed individually, each having a distinct mood, tempo, and character. “Rise, Rise Lovely Red Sun” is a spirited, muscular song associated with Stenka Razin, the notorious outlaw who led a band of marauding runaway serfs and deserters from the army in the seventeenth century.