Editing Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (section)

===Early years===
[[File:Rimski korsakov birthplace.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A large, low house overlooking the Tikhvinka River|Rimsky-Korsakov's birthplace in [[Tikhvin]]]]
Rimsky-Korsakov was born in [[Tikhvin]], {{convert|200|km|miles|sp=us|abbr=off}} east of [[Saint Petersburg]], into a [[Russian nobility|Russian noble]] family. Tikhvin was a town of [[Novgorod Governorate]] at that time.
[[File:Rimsky-Korsakov family COA.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Rimsky-Korsakov family coat of arms]]
Throughout history, members of the family served in Russian government and took various positions as governors and war generals. [[Ivan Rimsky-Korsakov]] was famously a lover of [[Catherine the Great]].<ref name='tatiana'>''Tatiana Rimskaya-Korsakova (2008)''. [http://search.rsl.ru/ru/record/01004325291 N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. From the Family Letters] – Saint Petersburg: Compositor, 247 pages, pp. 8–9 {{ISBN|978-5-91461-005-7}}</ref><ref>[https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/ЭСБЕ/Корсаковы The Korsakov family] from [[Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary]] at [[Wikisource]]</ref><ref>[https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/ЭСБЕ/Римские-Корсаковы The Rimsky-Korsakov family] from [[Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary]] at [[Wikisource]]</ref> By a Tsar's decree on 15 May 1677, 18 representatives of the Korsakov family acquired the right to be called the Rimsky-Korsakov family (the Russian adjective 'Rimsky' means 'Roman') since the family "had a beginning within the Roman borders", i.e. [[Czech lands]], which used to be a part of the [[Holy Roman Empire]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Iosif (Rismky-Korsakov) |url=http://www.pravenc.ru/text/578537.html |publisher=[[Orthodox Encyclopedia]] |access-date=6 January 2021 |language=ru |date=2011}}</ref> In 1390, Wenceslaus Korsak moved to the Grand Prince [[Vasily I of Moscow]] from the [[Duchy of Lithuania]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Page 53 |url=https://gerbovnik.ru/og/v2/p0129.jpg |website=gerbovnik.ru |publisher=[[General Armorial of the Noble Families of the Russian Empire]] |access-date=14 January 2021 |language=ru|year=1798}}
* {{cite web |title=Page 52 |url=https://gerbovnik.ru/og/v2/p0128.jpg |website=gerbovnik.ru |publisher=General Armorial of the Noble Families of the Russian Empire |access-date=14 January 2021 |language=ru|year=1798}}</ref>

The father of the composer, Andrei Petrovich Rimsky-Korsakov (1784–1862), was one of the six illegitimate sons of Avdotya Yakovlevna, daughter of an [[Russian Orthodox Church|Orthodox priest]] from [[Pskov]], and [[lieutenant general]] Peter Voinovich Rimsky-Korsakov, who had to officially adopt his own children as he was unable to marry their mother because of her lower social status. Using his friendship with [[Aleksey Arakcheyev]], he managed to grant them all the privileges of the noble family.<ref>''Tatiana Rimskaya-Korsakova (1995)''. [http://search.rsl.ru/ru/record/01001705653 Childhood and Youth of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. From the Family Letters]. – Saint Petersburg: Compositor, 278 pages, pp. 9–10; {{ISBN|978-5-7379-0007-6}}</ref> Andrei went on to serve in the Interior Ministry of the Russian Empire, as vice-governor of [[Novgorod]], and in the [[Volhynian Governorate]]. The composer's mother, Sofya Vasilievna Rimskaya-Korsakova (1802–1890), was also born as an illegitimate daughter of a [[serfdom in Russia|peasant serf]] and Vasily Fedorovich [[:File:RU_COA_Skaryatin_VI_50.svg|Skaryatin]], a wealthy landlord who belonged to the noble Russian family that originated during the 16th century.<ref>[https://gerbovnik.ru/arms/800 Skaryatin coat of arms] by All-Russian Armorials of Noble Houses of the Russian Empire. Part 6, 23 June 1801 (in Russian)</ref> Her father raised her in full comfort, yet under an improvised surname, Vasilieva, and with no legal status. By the time Andrei Petrovich met her, he was already a widower: his first wife, [[knyaz]]na Ekaterina [[Meshchersky|Meshcherskaya]], died just nine months after their marriage. Since Skaryatin found him unsuitable for his daughter, Andrei secretly "stole" his bride from the father's house and brought her to Saint Petersburg, where they married.<ref name="tatiana" />
[[File:Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov as cadet.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1856]]
The Rimsky-Korsakov family had a long line of military and naval service. Nikolai's older brother [[Voin Rimsky-Korsakov|Voin]], 22 years his senior, became a well-known navigator and explorer and had a powerful influence on Nikolai's life.<ref name="taruskin166">Taruskin, ''Music'', p. 166.</ref> He later recalled that his mother played the piano a little, and his father could play a few songs on the piano by ear.<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 4.</ref> Beginning at six, he took piano lessons from local teachers and showed a talent for aural skills,<ref name="abng1627">Abraham, ''New Grove (1980)'', 16:27.</ref> but he showed a lack of interest, playing, as he later wrote, "badly, carelessly,&nbsp;... poor at keeping time".<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 5.</ref>

Although he started composing by age 10, Rimsky-Korsakov preferred literature to music.<ref name="mfw21400"/> He later wrote that from his reading, and tales of his brother's exploits, he developed a poetic love for the sea "without ever having seen it".<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 8.</ref> This love, with subtle prompting from Voin, encouraged the 12-year-old to join the [[Imperial Russian Navy]].<ref name="mfw21400"/> He studied at the School for Mathematical and Navigational Sciences in Saint Petersburg and at 18 took his final examination in April 1862.<ref name="abng1627"/>

[[File:Rimsky-Korsakov 1866.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=A young man with a full but neatly trimmed moustache, wearing a dark naval uniform|Rimsky-Korsakov in 1866, when he was a [[michman]] in the Russian Navy]]
While at school, Rimsky-Korsakov took piano lessons from a man named Ulikh.<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 11.</ref> Voin, now director of the school,<ref name="taruskin166"/> sanctioned these lessons because he hoped they would help Nikolai develop social skills and overcome his shyness.<ref name="mfw21400"/> Rimsky-Korsakov wrote that, while "indifferent" to lessons, he developed a love for music, fostered by visits to the opera and, later, orchestral concerts.<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', pp. 11–13.</ref>

Ulikh perceived Rimsky-Korsakov's musical talent and recommended another teacher, Feodor A. Kanille (Théodore Canillé).<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 15.</ref> Beginning in late 1859, Rimsky-Korsakov took lessons in piano and composition from Kanille, whom he later credited as the inspiration for devoting his life to composition.<ref name="rk16">Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 16.</ref> Through Kanille, he was exposed to a great deal of new music, including [[Mikhail Glinka]] and [[Robert Schumann]].<ref name="mfw21400">Frolova-Walker, ''New Grove'' (2001), 21:400.</ref> Voin cancelled his brother Nikolai's musical lessons when the latter reached age 17, feeling they no longer served a practical purpose.<ref name="mfw21400"/>

Kanille told Rimsky-Korsakov to continue coming to him every Sunday,<ref name="rk16"/> not for formal lessons but to play duets and discuss music.<ref>Calvocoressi and Abraham, ''Masters of Russian Music'', p. 342.</ref> In November 1861, Kanille introduced the 18-year-old Nikolai to [[Mily Balakirev]]. Balakirev in turn introduced him to [[César Cui]] and [[Modest Mussorgsky]]; all three were known as composers, despite only being in their 20s.<ref>Abraham, ''New Grove (1980)'', 2:28; Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', 18.</ref> Rimsky-Korsakov later wrote, "With what delight I listened to ''real business'' discussions [Rimsky-Korsakov's emphasis] of instrumentation, [[part (music)|part]] writing, etc! And besides, how much talking there was about current musical matters! All at once I had been plunged into a new world, unknown to me, formerly only heard of in the society of my dilettante friends. That was truly a strong impression."<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', pp. 19–20.</ref>
[[File:Almaz1863.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A three-masted ship with dark sides and a flared prow|The Russian military [[clipper]] ''Almaz'' in [[New York Harbor]] in 1863. Rimsky-Korsakov served as a [[midshipman]] on this ship and later wrote about this cruise.]]
Balakirev encouraged Rimsky-Korsakov to compose and taught him the rudiments when he was not at sea.<ref name="mfw21400"/> Balakirev prompted him to enrich himself in history, literature and criticism.<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 38.</ref> When he showed Balakirev the beginning of a [[Symphony No. 1 (Rimsky-Korsakov)|symphony in E-flat minor]] that he had written, Balakirev insisted he continue working on it despite his lack of formal musical training.<ref>Abraham, ''A Short Biography'', pp. 23–25.</ref>

By the time Rimsky-Korsakov sailed on a two-year-and-eight-month cruise aboard the [[clipper]] ''Almaz'' in late 1862, he had completed and orchestrated three [[movement (music)|movements]] of the symphony.<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life''; p. 22.</ref>{{efn|This is not the first symphony by a Russian: [[Anton Rubinstein]] composed his first symphony in 1850 (Figes, 391).}} He composed the slow movement during a stop in England and mailed the score to Balakirev before going back to sea.<ref>Abraham, ''New Grove (1980)'', 2:28; Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 42.</ref>

At first, his work on the symphony kept Rimsky-Korsakov occupied during his cruise. He purchased scores at every port of call, along with a piano on which to play them, and filled his idle hours studying [[Hector Berlioz|Berlioz]]'s [[Treatise on Instrumentation]].<ref name="mfw21400"/> He found time to read the works of [[Homer]], [[William Shakespeare]], [[Friedrich Schiller]] and [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]; he saw London, [[Niagara Falls]], and [[Rio de Janeiro]] during his stops in port. Eventually, the lack of outside musical stimuli dulled the young midshipman's hunger to learn. He wrote to Balakirev that after two years at sea he had neglected his musical lessons for months.<ref name="mfw21400"/>

"Thoughts of becoming a musician and composer gradually left me altogether", he later recalled; "distant lands began to allure me, somehow, although, properly speaking, naval service never pleased me much and hardly suited my character at all."<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 48.</ref>