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 Saturdays 22 and 29 June, new style. Upon our arrival in Paris, rehearsals commenced. The orchestra, which proved to be excellent, the men being amiable and painstaking, had been borrowed from [[Édouard Colonne|Colonne]]. Their playing in the concerts was fine... The success was considerable, with plenty of applause, but the attendance was not large. "Night on Bald Mountain" was performed at the second concert, on 29 June 1889, where it followed [[Alexander Borodin|Borodin]]'s 'Polovtsian Dances' and 'Polovtsian March' from "[[Prince Igor]]" in the second half of the program. Rimsky-Korsakov later mentions another performance of the piece, taking place on 25