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 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