RubbishAmong Rimsky-Korsakov's pupils at the St. Petersburg Conservatory were Glazunov, Gretchanin, and Stravinsky - who once presented him with a new composition. "This is disgusting, Sir," Rimsky replied. "It is not permissible to write such rubbish until one is sixty."
Rimsky remained in a bad temper all day and into dinner. "What a bunch of non-entities my pupils are," he complained to his wife. "Not one of them is capable of producing a piece of rubbish such as Igor brought me this morning."
Rimsky-Korsakov, Nicolai Andreyevich (1844-1908) Russian composer and conductor [noted for his membership of The Five (a group of nationalist composers); for his St. Petersburg Symphony Concerts (1886–1900); such
works as his operas,
The Snow Maiden (1881),
The Maid of Pskov (1873, also known as Ivan the Terrible),
Sadko (1895), and
Le Coq d’Or (The Golden Cockerel), and the orchestral work
Scheherezade (1888); and for his autobiography,
My Musical Life (1942)]
[Sources: Richard Buckle, Daighilev]More Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov anecdotesRelated Anecdote Keywords:
Classical Music Composing Complaints Irony Dubious Compliments Bad Students Ambivalence
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