Our event this month was devoted to works by Nicolai A. Rimsky-Korsakov. Retired from the Tzar's navy, Rimsky-Korsakov was a largely self taught composer and orchestrator. He began his academic studies after being appointed professor of composition and orchestration at the St. Petersburg Conservatory (so he could teach from the books).
KUSC's Jim Svejda calls Rimsky-Korsakov "the world's greatest
second-rate composer". Archive Music has 938 available CD listings for
him, yet it's not easy finding works among them not instantly familiar.
Most composers can be that "second-rate" only in their dreams.
Rimsky-Korsakov was composition teacher to Igor Stravinsky, Ottorino
Respighi and many other noted composers of the following generation.
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