Editing Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (section)

===Backlash and ''May Night''===
Rimsky-Korsakov's studies and his change in attitude regarding music education brought him the scorn of his fellow nationalists, who thought he was throwing away his Russian heritage to compose fugues and [[sonata]]s.<ref name="schonberg363">Schonberg, p. 363.</ref> After he strove "to crowd in as much counterpoint as possible" into his Third Symphony,<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', 133.</ref> he wrote [[chamber music|chamber]] works adhering strictly to classical models, including a string sextet, a string quartet in F major (Op. 12) and a quintet for flute, clarinet, horn, bassoon and piano in B-flat. About the quartet and the symphony, Tchaikovsky wrote to his patroness, [[Nadezhda von Meck]], that they "were filled with a host of clever things but&nbsp;... [were] imbued with a dryly pedantic character".<ref name="brcy229"/> Borodin commented that when he heard the symphony, he kept "feeling that this is the work of a German ''Herr Professor'' who has put on his glasses and is about to write ''Eine grosse Symphonie in C''".<ref>Zetlin, pp. 303–304.</ref>

According to Rimsky-Korsakov, the other members of the Five showed little enthusiasm for the symphony, and less still for the quartet.<ref name="rimsky151"/> Nor was his public debut as a conductor, at an 1874 charity concert where he led the orchestra in the new symphony, considered favorably by his compatriots.<ref name="abng1629"/> He later wrote that "they began, indeed, to look down upon me as one on the downward path". Worse still to Rimsky-Korsakov was the faint praise given by [[Anton Rubinstein]], a composer opposed to the nationalists' music and philosophy. Rimsky-Korsakov wrote that after Rubinstein heard the quartet, he commented that now Rimsky-Korsakov "might amount to something" as a composer.<ref name="rimsky151">Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', 151.</ref> He wrote that Tchaikovsky continued to support him morally, telling him that he fully applauded what Rimsky-Korsakov was doing and admired both his artistic modesty and his strength of character.<ref name="rimsky157ft30">Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', 157 ft. 30.</ref> Privately, Tchaikovsky confided to Nadezhda von Meck, "Apparently [Rimsky-Korsakov] is now passing through this crisis, and how it will end will be difficult to predict. Either a great master will come out of him, or he will finally become bogged down in contrapuntal tricks".<ref name="brcy229">As quoted in Brown, ''Crisis Years'', p. 229.</ref>
[[File:Mikhail Glinka by Ilya Repin.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A middle-aged man in a light-colored coat, reclining on a sofa, staring thoughtfully into space with a pen and music paper|Portrait of Mikhail Glinka by Ilya Repin. Rimsky-Korsakov credited his editing of Glinka's scores with leading him back toward modern music.]]
Two projects helped Rimsky-Korsakov focus on less academic music-making. The first was the creation of two folk song collections in 1874. Rimsky-Korsakov transcribed 40 Russian songs for voice and piano from performances by folk singer Tvorty Filippov,<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', 164.</ref><ref name="mfw21402"/> who approached him at Balakirev's suggestion.<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 163.</ref> This collection was followed by a second containing 100 songs, supplied by friends and servants, or taken from rare and out-of-print collections.<ref name="mfw21402">Frolova-Walker, ''New Grove (2001)'', 21:402.</ref><ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', pp. 164–165.</ref> Rimsky-Korsakov later credited this work as a great influence on him as a composer;<ref name="ReferenceB">Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 166.</ref> it also supplied a vast amount of musical material from which he could draw for future projects, either by direct quotation or as models for composing [[fakelore|fakeloric]] passages.<ref name="mfw21402"/> The second project was the editing of orchestral scores by pioneer Russian composer Mikhail Glinka (1804–1857) in collaboration with Balakirev and Anatoly Lyadov.<ref name="abng1629"/> Glinka's sister, Lyudmila Ivanovna Shestakova, wanted to preserve her brother's musical legacy in print, and paid the costs of the project from her own pocket.<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 172.</ref> No similar project had been attempted before in Russian music, and guidelines for scholarly musical editing had to be established and agreed.<ref name="mfw21402"/> While Balakirev favored making changes in Glinka's music to "correct" what he saw as compositional flaws, Rimsky-Korsakov favored a less intrusive approach. Eventually, Rimsky-Korsakov prevailed.<ref name="mfw21402"/> "Work on Glinka's scores was an unexpected schooling for me", he later wrote. "Even before this I had known and worshipped his operas; but as editor of the scores in print I had to go through Glinka's style and instrumentation to their last little note&nbsp;... And this was a beneficent discipline for me, leading me as it did to the path of modern music, after my vicissitudes with counterpoint and strict style".<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 175.</ref>

In mid-1877, Rimsky-Korsakov thought increasingly about the short story ''[[May Night or the Drowned Maiden|May Night]]'' by [[Nikolai Gogol]]. The story had long been a favorite of his, and his wife Nadezhda had encouraged him to write an opera based on it from the day of their betrothal, when they had read it together.<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', pp. 188–189.</ref> While musical ideas for such a work predated 1877, now they came with greater persistence. By early 1878 the project took an increasing amount of his attention; in February he started writing in earnest, and he finished the opera by early November.<ref name="mfw21402"/>

Rimsky-Korsakov wrote that ''[[May Night]]'' was of great importance because, despite the opera's containing a good deal of contrapuntal music, he nevertheless "''cast off the shackles of counterpoint'' [emphasis Rimsky-Korsakov]".<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 208.</ref> He wrote the opera in a folk-like melodic idiom, and scored it in a transparent manner much in the style of Glinka.<ref name="abng1629"/> Nevertheless, despite the ease of writing this opera and the next, ''[[The Snow Maiden]]'',<ref>Rimsky-Korsakov, ''My Musical Life'', p. 235.</ref> from time to time he suffered from creative paralysis between 1881 and 1888. He kept busy during this time by editing Mussorgsky's works and completing Borodin's ''[[Prince Igor]]'' (Mussorgsky died in 1881, Borodin in 1887).<ref name="maes171"/>