Night on Bald Mountain never re-model it: "with whatever shortcomings, it is born; and with them it must live if it is to live at all." Having finally completed the work, Mussorgsky was crushed when his mentor Mily Balakirev was savagely critical of it. The score is peppered with comments such as "the devil knows what [this is]", "what rubbish", and "this might be of use", probably pencilled in by Balakirev. This "first version" was put aside, and did not appear in print until 1968, in a new edition prepared by Georgiy Kirkor. The original tone poem, "St. John's Eve on Bald Mountain" (1867),
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