Night on Bald Mountain work until 1866, by which time he was planning the orchestral tone poem "St. John's Eve on Bald Mountain" (see below). No trace of a work for piano and orchestra has survived outside Rimsky-Korsakov's recollections, so it is assumed that the score has been lost, or, more likely, that it never existed. In 1866 Mussorgsky wrote to Balakirev expressing a desire to discuss his plans for "The Witches", his informal name for his "Bald Mountain" music. In early June 1867, he began composing the orchestral version of the piece. The score is inscribed with the following details: Conceived in 1866.
Night on Bald Mountain наилучшим способом мысли Мусоргского. Задача была трудная, удовлетворительно разрешить которую мне не удавалось в течение двух лет, между тем как с другими сочинениями Мусоргского я справился сравнительно легко. Не давались мне ни форма, ни модуляции, ни оркестровка, и пьеса лежала без движения до следующего года.» Rimsky-Korsakov made "corrections" typical of him, as he did with "[[Khovanshchina]]", and was later to do with "[[Boris Godunov (opera)|Boris Godunov]]", preserving the general thematic structure, but adding or omitting bars, and making modifications to melody, harmony, rhythm, and dynamics. [[File:Night on the Bare Mountain Score Title Page Bessel 1886a.jpg|thumb|Title page of Rimsky-Korsakov's edition, published