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 John's Eve on Bald Mountain", usually shortened to "Night on Bald Mountain". However, due to several ambiguities, the composition is also known by a number of alternate titles in English. The Russian word "ночь" ("noch′") is literally "night" in English, but idiomatically this would refer to the night following St. John's Day, variously observed between 21 June (the summer solstice) and 25 June. The night before St. John's Day is usually referred to as "St. John's Eve" in English; Russian does not make this distinction. "Bald Mountain" is the most familiar translation of "лысой горе" ("lysoy gore") in English, and