Night on Bald Mountain 25 December 1858, has been interpreted as an indication of Mussorgsky's intent to write an opera on the subject of Gogol's short story "St. John's Eve" (, "Vecher nakanune Ivana Kupala", "St. John's Eve"). Gogol's tale contains the elements of witchcraft common to other stories in the "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka" collection, but does not feature a witches' sabbath. No further plans for this project were mentioned. The theme of a witches' sabbath, the central theme in all subsequent "Night on Bald Mountain" projects, appears to have been derived from the nonextant play "The Witch" (, "Ved′ma") by
Bare Mountain (Massachusetts) Hitchcock. The peak to its east, Round Mountain, has been removed by quarrying activity. The next to its east is thus now Mount Norwottuck in Granby. Both these nearby peaks once had towers on them, but those have since been taken down. Thus Bare Mountain offer the best views until Long Mountain to the east or Mount Holyoke to the west are reached. Bare Mountain is the highest point within South Hadley. For many decades, Mount Hitchcock was thought to be the highest. However, carefully topographical and boundary analysis shows both that the peak of Bare Mountain is within the