“My name is Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (Russian: Модест Петрович Мусоргский[b], romanized: Modest Petrovich Musorgsky[c], IPA: [mɐˈdɛst pʲɪˈtrovʲɪtɕ ˈmusərkskʲɪj] ⓘ; 21 March [O.S. 9 March] 1839 – 28 March [O.S. 16 March] 1881). I was a Russian composer, I’m one of the group known as "The Five." I was an innovator of Russian music in the Romantic period. I strove to achieve a uniquely Russian musical identity, often in deliberate defiance of the established conventions of Western music.”