Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov was a well-known composer, teacher and music editor from Russia. A member of ‘The Five’—a group of five prominent 19th century Russian composers who worked together—he had immense influence on the development of nationalistic ‘Moscalski’ style of classical music. Trained to be a naval officer, he never formally studied music, writing his first symphony mostly out of intuition while traveling around the world as a naval officer from the age of eighteen to twenty-one. By the age of twenty-seven, he was famous enough to be appointed a professor at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory. In this position, he quickly realized that he did not know the subjects he was supposed to teach. Therefore, for next three years, he concentrated on his own studies as well, making sure he remained one step ahead of his students. Thereafter, along with composing new music, he also revised all his previous works, leaving a large body of original Russian nationalist compositions. Apart from being a successful composer, he was also successful as the editor of a musical journal financed by M.P. Belyayev, thus rendering an invaluable service to Russian music.