Editing Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (section)

===Professorship, marriage, inspector of bands===
In 1871, the 27-year-old Rimsky-Korsakov became Professor of Practical Composition and Instrumentation (orchestration) at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory,<ref name="mfw21401"/> as well as leader of the Orchestra Class.<ref name="abng1628"/> He retained his position in active naval service, and taught his classes in uniform (military officers in Russia were required to wear their uniforms every day, as they were considered to be always on duty).<ref>Figes, p. 18.</ref>
[[File:Saint Petersburg Conservatory.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A very large, three-story tall stone building in early 18th-century style, with many narrow windows|[[Saint Petersburg Conservatory]], where Rimsky-Korsakov taught from 1871 to 1906]]
Rimsky-Korsakov explained in his memoirs that [[Mikhaíl Azanchevsky]] had taken over that year as director of the Conservatory,<ref name="abng1628"/> and wanting new blood to freshen up teaching in those subjects,<ref name="rimsky116">Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 116.</ref> had offered to pay generously for Rimsky-Korsakov's services.<ref>Maes, p. 48.</ref> Biographer [[Mikhail Tsetlin]] (aka Mikhail Zetlin) suggests that Azanchevsky's motives might have been twofold. 

First, Rimsky-Korsakov was the member of the Five least criticized by its opponents, and inviting him to teach at the Conservatory may have been considered a safe way to show that all serious musicians were welcome there. 

Second, the offer may have been calculated to expose him to an academic climate in which he would write in a more conservative, Western-based style.<ref>Zetlin, pp. 194–195.</ref> Balakirev had opposed academic training in music with tremendous vigor,<ref name="Maes39">Maes, p. 39.</ref> but encouraged him to accept the post to convince others to join the nationalist musical cause.<ref>Maes, pp. 169–170.</ref>

Rimsky-Korsakov's reputation at this time was as a master of orchestration, based on ''Sadko'' and ''Antar''.<ref name="zetlin195">Zetlin, p. 195.</ref> He had written these works mainly by intuition. His knowledge of musical theory was elemental; he had never written any [[counterpoint]], could not harmonize a simple [[chorale]], nor knew the names or [[interval (music)|intervals]] of musical chords.<ref name="zetlin195"/> He had never conducted an orchestra, and had been discouraged from doing so by the navy, which did not approve of his appearing on the podium in uniform.<ref>Zetlin, pp. 195–196.</ref> Aware of his technical shortcomings,<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 117.</ref> Rimsky-Korsakov consulted [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]],<ref>Brown, ''Crisis Years'', pp. 228–229; Maes, p. 48.</ref> with whom he and the others in The Five had been in occasional contact.<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 75.</ref> Tchaikovsky, unlike The Five, had received academic training in composition at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory,<ref>Brown, ''Early Years'', pp. 54–83.</ref> and was serving as Professor of [[music theory|Music Theory]] at the [[Moscow Conservatory]].<ref>Brown, ''Early Years'', pp. 88–89.</ref> Tchaikovsky advised him to study.<ref>Brown, ''Crisis Years'', pp. 228–229.</ref>

Rimsky-Korsakov wrote that while teaching at the Conservatory he soon became "possibly its very best ''pupil'' [Rimsky-Korsakov's emphasis], judging by the quantity and value of the information it gave me!"<ref name="rimsky119">Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 119.</ref> To prepare himself, and to stay at least one step ahead of his students, he took a three-year sabbatical from composing original works, and assiduously studied at home while he lectured at the Conservatory. He taught himself from textbooks,<ref name="abng1629">Abraham, ''New Grove (1980)'', 16:29.</ref> and followed a strict regimen of composing contrapuntal exercises, [[fugue]]s, chorales and ''[[a cappella]]'' choruses.<ref name="mfw21401"/>

Rimsky-Korsakov eventually became an excellent teacher and a fervent believer in academic training.<ref name="rimsky119"/><ref name="Maes, 170">Maes, p. 170.</ref><ref name="schonberg363"/> He revised everything he had composed prior to 1874, even acclaimed works such as ''Sadko'' and ''Antar'', in a search for perfection that would remain with him throughout the rest of his life.<ref name="mfw21401"/> Assigned to rehearse the Orchestra Class, he mastered the art of conducting.<ref name="mfw21401"/> Dealing with orchestral textures as a conductor, and making suitable arrangements of musical works for the Orchestra Class, led to an increased interest in the art of orchestration, an area into which he would further indulge his studies as Inspector of Navy Bands. The score of his Third Symphony, written just after he had completed his three-year program of self-improvement, reflects his hands-on experience with the orchestra.<ref name="mfw21401"/>
[[File:Nadezhda Purgold.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Side view of a young woman with dark hair braided up on her head|[[Nadezhda Rimskaya-Korsakova]], née Purgold, wife of the composer]]Professorship brought Rimsky-Korsakov financial security,<ref name="abng28">Abraham, ''New Grove (1980)'', 16:28</ref> which encouraged him to settle down and to start a family.<ref name="abng28"/> In December 1871 he proposed to [[Nadezhda Rimskaya-Korsakova|Nadezhda Purgold]], with whom he had developed a close relationship over weekly gatherings of The Five at the Purgold household.<ref>Schonberg, p. 362; Zetlin, pp. 164–166.</ref> They married in July 1872, with Mussorgsky serving as best man.<ref name="abng28"/> The Rimsky-Korsakovs had seven children.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, continued|publisher=symphonyinc.org|url=http://symphonyinc.org/node/152|access-date=6 September 2011}}</ref> Their first son, [[Mikhail Rimsky-Korsakov|Mikhail]], became an entomologist<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Guseinova |first=Zivar M. |date=2017 |title=ПЕТЕРБУРГСКИЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ В ЖИЗНИ РИМСКИХ-КОРСАКОВЫХ (по личным письмам членов семьи) |trans-title=St. Petersburg University in Rimsky-Korsakov's family (on the basis of personal letters) |journal=ВЕСТНИК САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГСКОГО УНИВЕРСИТЕТА. ИСКУССТВОВЕДЕНИЕ |volume=7 |issue=3 |pages=296–303 |doi=10.21638/11701/spbu15.2017.301 |hdl=11701/8539 |language=ru|doi-access=free }}</ref> while another son, [[Andrey Rimsky-Korsakov|Andrei]], became a musicologist, married the composer Yuliya Veysberg and wrote a multi-volume study of his father's life and work.<ref>McAllister and Rayskin, ''New Grove (2001)'', 21:423–24.</ref>

Nadezhda became a musical as well as domestic partner with her husband, much as [[Clara Schumann]] had been with her own husband Robert.<ref name="abng28"/> She was beautiful, capable, strong-willed, and far better trained musically than her husband at the time they married<ref>Abraham, ''New Grove (1980)''16:28–29.</ref>—she had attended the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in the mid-1860s, studying piano with Anton Gerke (one of whose private students was Mussorgsky)<ref>Zetlin, p. 164.</ref> and music theory with [[Nikolai Zaremba]], who also taught Tchaikovsky.<ref name="neff">Neff, ''New Grove (2001)'', 21:423.</ref> Nadezhda proved a fine and most demanding critic of her husband's work; her influence over him in musical matters was strong enough for Balakirev and Stasov to wonder whether she was leading him astray from their musical preferences.<ref name="mfw21401">Frolova-Walker, ''New Grove (2001)'', 21:401.</ref> Musicologist Lyle Neff wrote that while Nadezhda gave up her own compositional career when she married Rimsky-Korsakov, she "had a considerable influence on the creation of [Rimsky-Korsakov's] first three operas. She travelled with her husband, attended rehearsals and arranged compositions by him and others"<ref name="neff"/> for piano four hands, which she played with her husband.<ref name="mfw21401"/> "Her last years were dedicated to issuing her husband's posthumous literary and musical legacy, maintaining standards for performance of his works&nbsp;... and preparing material for a museum in his name."<ref name="neff"/>

[[File:Rimsky-Korsakov by Repin.jpg|thumb|upright|left|alt=A man with glasses and a long beard sitting on a sofa, smoking|Portrait of Rimsky-Korsakov by [[Ilya Repin]]]]
In early 1873, the navy created the civilian post of Inspector of Naval Bands, with a rank of Collegiate Assessor, and appointed Rimsky-Korsakov. This kept him on the navy payroll and listed on the roster of the Chancellery of the Navy Department but allowed him to resign his commission.<ref name="abng1629"/><ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical life'', pp. 135–136.</ref> The composer commented, "I parted with delight with both my military status and my officer's uniform", he later wrote. "Henceforth I was a musician officially and incontestably."<ref name="rimsky136"/> As Inspector, Rimsky-Korsakov applied himself with zeal to his duties.<ref name="abng1629"/> He visited naval bands throughout Russia, supervised the bandmasters and their appointments, reviewed the bands' repertoire, and inspected the quality of their instruments. He wrote a study program for a complement of music students who held navy fellowships at the Conservatory, and acted as an intermediary between the Conservatory and the navy. He also indulged in a long-standing desire to familiarize himself with the construction and playing technique of orchestral instruments.<ref name="rimsky136"/><ref>Leonard, p. 148.</ref> These studies prompted him to write a textbook on orchestration.<ref name="rimsky136">Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 136.</ref> He used the privileges of rank to exercise and expand upon his knowledge. He discussed arrangements of musical works for military band with bandmasters, encouraged and reviewed their efforts, held concerts at which he could hear these pieces, and orchestrated original works, and works by other composers, for military bands.<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', pp. 141–142.</ref>

In March 1884, an Imperial Order abolished the navy office of Inspector of Bands, and Rimsky-Korsakov was relieved of his duties.<ref name="abng1629"/> He worked under Balakirev in the [[Saint Petersburg Court Capella|Court Chapel]] as a deputy until 1894,<ref>Frolova-Walker, ''New Grove (2001), 8:404; Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 335</ref> which allowed him to study Russian Orthodox church music. He also taught classes at the chapel, and wrote his textbook on [[harmony (music)|harmony]] for use there and at the Conservatory.<ref name="leo149"/>